Lesley Molseed murder
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Lesley Molseed , born Lesley Susan Anderson, was an English schoolgirl who was abducted and murdered on 5 October 1975 in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. Stefan Kiszko ( ), an intellectually disabled man who lived near Molseed's residence in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
, was wrongly convicted in her murder and served sixteen years in prison before his conviction was overturned. His mental and physical health had deteriorated in prison, and he died twenty-two months after his release in February 1992 – before he could collect the money owed to him for his wrongful conviction. Kiszko's ordeal was described by one British MP as "the worst
miscarriage of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...
of all time." Evidence exonerating Kiszko in the crime was suppressed by three members of the investigation team, who were initially arrested in 1993 before charges were dropped. However, in 2006, a DNA match led to Ronald Castree being charged with Molseed's murder; he was convicted the following year and sentenced to life imprisonment.


Murder

Lesley Molseed was born on 14 August 1964 and lived her family mother April, stepfather Danny, and three siblings at 11 Delamere Road,
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
, part of the Turf Hill
council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
. Known as 'Lel' to her family, Lesley was born with a
congenital condition A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can r ...
that included cardiac complications. Despite open-heart surgery at age 3, Lesley was undersized and frail with a reduced mental level for her age. On the early afternoon of Sunday 5 October 1975, Lesley was sent by her mother to a local shop on nearby Ansdell Road to buy bread and air-freshener. The Molseed children had a rota for chores and for Lesley, such an errand would have been routine (as it was for most school-aged children from urban/estate households in that era). Wearing a blue raincoat, carrying a blue canvas bag and £1 in cash, Lesley was last seen by witnesses in Stiups Lane, a pedestrian alleyway leading towards the shop. When she failed to return home, her concerned mother sent her siblings out to look for her. Her stepfather also joined the search but by 3:00p.m., with no sign of her, and no evidence that she had arrived at the shops nor been encountered since, the parents contacted
West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers. History West Yor ...
. A search around Rochdale and the adjacent
M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...
was immediately begun. Three days later, around 08:00 on 8 October, Lesley's body was found next to a remote section of the TransPennine railway near
Rishworth Rishworth is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a small church, farms and schools, including Rishworth School. St. Johns Rishworth CofE Primary School provides primary ...
Moor in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. Lying face down in tall grass on a natural turf shelf nine metres above the carriageway, she was discovered by a driver who'd stopped in a nearby layby. Lesley had been stabbed twelve times in the upper shoulder and back: one wound had penetrated her heart. There were no defensive wounds, and a time of death could not be calculated. None of her clothing or possessions were disturbed, but her money was missing and
semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Sem ...
was found on her clothing and underwear. Other evidence collected by forensics included foreign fibres, traces of dry wallpaper paste, and 379 other objects in the vicinity.


Stefan Kiszko

Stefan Kiszko was a 23-year-old local tax clerk of Eastern European descent. His father, Iwan Kiszko, had emigrated from Soviet Ukraine and his mother, Charlotte ('' née'' Slavič), from
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
(modern-day Slovenia) after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, with both parents working in the cotton mills of Rochdale. In 1970, Kiszko's father died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in front of his wife and son. Kiszko came to the attention of the murder investigation when four Maxine Buckley (aged 12), Catherine Burke (16), Debbie Brown (13), and Pamela Hind (18) together claimed that he had indecently exposed himself to them the day before the murder. One claimed he had exposed himself to her a month after the murder, on Guy Fawkes Night. West Yorkshire Police quickly formed the view that Kiszko fit their idea of the likely killer, even though he had never been in trouble with the law and had no social life beyond his mother and aunt. A psychological evaluation showed that Kiszko had the mental and emotional age of just twelve years. He had an unusual hobby of writing down registration numbers of cars that annoyed him, which supported police suspicions. Investigators now pursued evidence which might incriminate him, and ignored other leads that might have taken them in other directions. Acting upon the teenage girls' information and their suspicions of Kiszko's idiosyncratic lifestyle – and having allegedly found girlie magazines and a bag of sweets in his car – police arrested him on 21 December 1975. During questioning, the interviewing detectives seized upon every apparent inconsistency between his varying accounts of the relevant days as further demonstration of his likely guilt. Kiszko confessed to the crime after three days of intensive questioning: he believed that by doing so, he would be allowed to go home and that the ensuing investigations would prove him innocent and his confession false. Prior to the
Police and Criminal Evidence Act The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...
of 1984, suspects did not have the right to have a solicitor present during interviews and the police did not ask Kiszko if he wanted one. His request to have his mother present while he was being questioned was refused and, crucially, the police did not caution him until long after they had decided he was the
prime suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
– indeed, the only suspect. After admitting to the murder to police, Kiszko was charged with Lesley's murder on Christmas Eve 1975. When he entered Armley Gaol after being charged, he was nicknamed 'Oliver Laurel' because he had the girth of Oliver Hardy and the perplexed air of Oliver's comedy sidekick Stan Laurel. Later, in the presence of a solicitor, Kiszko retracted his confession. He was remanded until his murder trial, which began on 7 July 1976 under Sir Hugh Park at
Leeds Crown Court Leeds Crown Court, more accurately the Crown Court at Leeds, is a venue of the Crown Court in West Yorkshire, England. The buildings are situated on Westgate in Leeds city centre, adjacent to Leeds magistrates courts. Notable cases As Leeds As ...
. He was defended by
David Waddington David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, (2 August 1929 – 23 February 2017) was a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1968 to 1974 a ...
QC, who later became
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
. The prosecuting QC,
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...
, became
Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
the day after Kiszko was cleared of the murder in 1992.


Trial and appeal

Kiszko's
defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...
team, led by Waddington, made significant mistakes. Firstly, they did not seek an adjournment when
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
delivered thousands of pages of additional unused material on the first morning of the trial. Then there was the inconsistent defence of
diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental func ...
which Kiszko never authorised, on the grounds that the
testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...
he was receiving for his
hypogonadism Hypogonadism means diminished functional activity of the gonads—the testes or the ovaries—that may result in diminished production of sex hormones. Low androgen (e.g., testosterone) levels are referred to as hypoandrogenism and low estroge ...
might have made him behave unusually. Kiszko's
endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...
strongly disagreed with this theory, and if called to testify would have said that his treatment could not have caused him to act in such a way that would make him carry out a murder. He was never called. The manslaughter claim undermined Kiszko's claims that he was totally innocent and destroyed his
alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...
s (a defence known in legal parlance as 'riding two horses'). In fact, his innocence could have been demonstrated at the trial. The pathologist who examined the victim's clothes found traces of sperm, whereas the sample taken from Kiszko by the police contained no sperm. There was medical evidence that Kiszko had broken his ankle some months before the murder and, in view of that and his being overweight, he would have found it difficult to scale the slope to the murder spot. The sperm findings were suppressed by the police and never disclosed to the defence team or the jury; neither was the medical evidence of his broken ankle disclosed to the court. Kiszko gave evidence that, in July 1975, he had become ill and was admitted to
Birch Hill Hospital Birch Hill Hospital is a health facility in Wardle, Greater Manchester, Wardle, Littleborough, Greater Manchester, Littleborough, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester. It was managed by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust when it was a general hospit ...
, where he was given a
blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...
. In August, he was transferred to a
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
hospital and diagnosed as anaemic along with what he understood was a 'hormone deficiency' (which was in fact
Klinefelter syndrome Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is an aneuploid genetic condition where a male has an additional copy of the X chromosome. The primary features are infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. Usually, symptoms are sub ...
).Rochdale Observer – 14 November 2007 Kiszko agreed to injections to rectify the latter problem and was discharged in September. He said correctly that he had never met Lesley and therefore could not have murdered her, and he claimed he was tending to his father's grave in Halifax with his aunt at the time of the murder, before visiting a garden centre and then going home. When asked why he had confessed, Kiszko replied, 'I started to tell these lies and they seemed to please them and the pressure was off as far as I was concerned. I thought if I admitted what I did to the police they would check out what I had said, find it untrue and would then let me go.' Kiszko's conviction was secured by a 10–2 majority verdict on 21 July 1976 after five hours and thirty-five minutes of deliberation. He was given a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
for committing Lesley's murder. The judge praised the three teenage girls who had made the exposure claims, Buckley in particular, for their 'bravery and honesty' in giving evidence in court and their 'sharp observations'. The evidence given by Hind was read out in court. Park said that Buckley's ' arp eyes set this train of inquiry into motion'. He also praised the police officers involved in the case 'for their great skill in bringing to justice the person responsible for this dreadful crime and their expertise in sifting through masses of material', adding, 'I would like all the officers responsible for the result to be specially commended and these observations conveyed to the Chief Constable.' DS John Akeroyd and DS Holland were singled out for praise. Sheila Buckley, whose daughter Maxine played a major part in securing Kiszko's conviction, criticised the police for not arresting Kiszko earlier and told the ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' that '... children are a lot safer, now this monster has been put away'. She also demanded that Kiszko be publicly hanged. Even Albert Wright, Kiszko's solicitor, thought that his client was guilty but that it was a case of diminished responsibility and that he should not have been convicted of murder. After a month in Armley Gaol, Kiszko was transferred to Wakefield Prison and immediately placed on Rule 43 to protect him from other inmates, as in the eyes of the law, he was now a convicted
sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crim ...
. Kiszko launched an appeal, but it was dismissed on 25 May 1978 when Lord Justice Bridge said 'We can find no grounds whatsoever to condemn the jury's verdict of murder as in any way unsafe or unsatisfactory. The appeal is dismissed.'


Time in prison


Attacks

After his conviction, Kiszko was fiercely and bitterly hated by the majority of inmates, receiving multiple taunts and death threats during his first months in prison. He was physically attacked four times in total. The first was on 24 August 1976, one day after being transferred to Wakefield Prison, when he was set upon in his cell by five prisoners who stole his watch, smashed up his radio, cut his mouth and injured both his knee and ankle. The attackers said they did it for Lesley and her family.Delusions of Innocence: The Tragic Case of Stefan Kiszko – Page 22. On 11 May 1977, he was hit over the head with a mop handle, leaving Kiszko in need of three stitches to a head wound. In December 1978, he was punched once in the face by another prisoner in an unprovoked attack whilst in the prison chapel. In March 1981, Kiszko was again punched in the face by a prisoner in an unprovoked attack whilst in the prison yard, but this time Kiszko retaliated and fought back. Blows were exchanged and a fight broke out. The two had to be separated by guards. Both men were given a loss of privileges for twenty-eight days. On each occasion, the attacks on Kiszko earned him absolutely no sympathy, from either other prisoners or guards, because of the crime for which he had been jailed. Kiszko was not physically attacked or threatened again during his remaining eleven years in prison. During much of that time, he was in the hospital wing of prisons. When he was not, he was placed among less violent offenders.


Mental illness

In July 1979, the
Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...
finally wrote to Kiszko to inform him he had been sacked. From late 1979 onwards, he developed signs of
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...
and began to have delusions (one being that he was the victim of a plot to incarcerate an innocent tax-office employee so the effects of imprisonment would be tested on him). In January 1980, he said that coded messages on BBC Radio 2's ''Jimmy Young Show'' were being sent to him. In 1982, he claimed that his parents had a tape recorder hidden in the kitchen and made him sing after turning it on, later selling the songs to Barry Manilow to make money out of his talent. Throughout the 1980s, Kiszko's claims of innocence were either labelled as symptoms of his schizophrenic delusions or attributed to his being in a state of denial. One forensic psychiatrist made a note of Kiszko having 'delusions of innocence'.


Remaining years in prison

In October 1981, Kiszko was put in the punishment block for possessing scissors in his cell. On 11 November, he was transferred to
Gloucester Prison HM Prison Gloucester was a Category B men's prison located in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. It was originally opened in 1792, on the site of Gloucester Castle whose keep had been used as a prison. The prison was operated by Her Majesty' ...
. In April 1983, he was informed that eligibility for
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
required an admission of guilt: if he continued to deny murdering Lesley, he would spend the rest of his life behind bars. This made no difference to Kiszko's stance. Thirteen months later – still denying having carried out the murder – he was moved to Bristol Prison. His mental deterioration was such that in June 1984, a forensic psychiatrist recommended his transfer to a high-security psychiatric hospital. Nothing came of it. Six months later, Kiszko was returned to Wakefield Prison. In August 1987, Kiszko was transferred to the specialist B-Category Grendon Prison where, in June 1988, the prison governor tried to persuade him to enroll on a sex offenders' treatment programme. This would require him to admit he murdered Lesley, followed by an exploration of his motives and behaviours. Kiszko refused to take part, persistently 'refusing to address his offending behaviour' on the grounds that he had done nothing that needed addressing. Having been classed as making 'no progress' he was returned to Wakefield Prison in May 1989. In February 1990, the Home Office privately disclosed that Kiszko's first parole hearing would take place in December 1992, by which time he would have served seventeen years in custody. However, he would only be released if he admitted to having murdered Lesley and if he could convince the
Parole Board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...
that he would not be a danger to children or the public. It was now over a decade since Kiszko had developed signs of mental illness and six years since it was recommended he be sent for psychiatric hospital treatment. His health continued to deteriorate; in July 1990, he said he was striking out a ghost who was trying to sexually abuse him. After a further six months of delays, in March 1991 Kiszko was transferred to
Ashworth Hospital Ashworth Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Maghull, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Liverpool. It is a part of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, catering to patients with psychiatric health needs that require treatment in c ...
under Section 47 of the
Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...
.


Case reopened

Kiszko's mother continued to profess her son's innocence, but was ignored and stonewalled both by politicians, including her local MP
Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...
and
Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...
James Callaghan (from 1976 to 1979) and
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
(from 1979 to 1990), and by the legal system. In 1984 she contacted
JUSTICE Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
, the UK human rights organisation which at the time investigated many
miscarriages of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...
. Three years later, she was put in touch with solicitor Campbell Malone, who agreed to take a look at the case. Malone consulted Philip Clegg, who had been Waddington's junior at the July 1976 trial. Clegg had expressed his own doubts about the confession and conviction at the time, and over the next two years he and Malone prepared a petition to the
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
. The draft was finally ready to be sent on 26 October 1989. On the same day, by coincidence, Waddington was appointed Home Secretary. Sixteen months passed before a police investigation into the conduct of the original trial could begin. Waddington resigned as Home Secretary in November 1990 to take up a peerage and to serve as
Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...
; he was replaced by Kenneth Baker. In February 1991, and with the help of a
private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
named Peter Jackson, Malone finally convinced the Home Office to reopen the case, which was then referred back to West Yorkshire Police. Detective Superintendent Trevor Wilkinson was assigned to the job. He immediately found several glaring errors. Kiszko's innocence was demonstrated conclusively through medical evidence; he had male hypogonadism, which rendered him infertile, contradicting forensic evidence obtained at the time of the murder. In 1975, his
testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoste ...
had measured 4 to 5 mm, whereas the average adult testicular size was 15 to 20 mm. During his research, Jackson found someone who confirmed that Kiszko had been seen with his aunt tending his father's grave on the day the murder took place. They said they could not understand why they had not been called to give evidence at the trial. Someone else said that Kiszko had been in a shop around the time of the murder. Also that month, the four girls – now aged 27, 28, 31 and 33 - who were involved in the trial admitted that the evidence they had given which had led to Kiszko's arrest and conviction was false, and that they had lied for 'a laugh' and because 'at the time it was funny'. Burke was interviewed at Sowerby police station on 14 February 1991. She said she wished she had not said anything, saying she did not think it would go as far as it did and that she went along with what Hind had said. Buckley said it was not Kiszko who had exposed himself to her, but she had seen a taxi driver (not Ronald Castree) urinating behind a bush on the day of the murder; she also refused to apologise. Brown refused to make any statement. Hind was a friend of Lesley's older sister but was the most remorseful of the four, saying that what they did was 'foolish – but we were young' and that, had she appeared in court, she would have told the truth about Kiszko – unlike her three friends, who all had committed
perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
. Hind did not think Kiszko would be convicted. A decision was made by the prosecuting authorities for a senior police officer to caution Hind and Burke for the criminal offence that each had undoubtedly committed.


Acquittal

In August 1991, the new findings in Kiszko's case were referred to the Home Secretary Kenneth Baker, who immediately passed them on to the Court of Appeal. On 19 December 1991, Kiszko was moved from Ashworth to
Prestwich Hospital Prestwich Hospital was a mental health facility in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England. History The site was selected at Prestwich Woods and acquired from Oswald Milne, a solicitor, in 1847. The hospital was designed by Isaac Holden, a Manche ...
. Ten months before his parole hearing was due, on 17 February 1992, the judicial investigation into Kiszko's conviction began. It was heard by three judges, Lord Chief Justice Lane, Mr Justice Rose and Mr Justice Potts. Present at the hearing were Franz Muller QC and William Boyce for the Crown, who were there to argue that Kiszko was guilty of murder and therefore must remain in prison custody for at least another ten months; and Stephen Sedley QC and Jim Gregory, to state that Kiszko was innocent. In court were Lesley's father Fred Anderson and April Molseed, her mother, who were both convinced up to that moment that Kiszko was guilty and should remain behind bars. After hearing the new evidence presented by Sedley, who said the original verdict 'could not in all probability have been obtained if new medical evidence had been before the court at the time of the trial', Gregory, Muller and Boyce did not put up any contrary argument and immediately accepted its validity. Also, after hearing the new evidence, Lord Chief Justice Lane said: 'It has been shown that this man cannot produce sperm. This man cannot have been the person responsible for ejaculating over the girl's knickers and skirt, and consequently cannot have been the murderer.' Kiszko was cleared, and Lord Lane ordered his immediate release from custody. The 1976 trial judge Sir Hugh Park, who had praised the police and the 13-year-old girls at the original trial for bringing Kiszko to justice, apologised for what had happened to Kiszko but said he was not sorry for how he had handled the court case. He wrote to Kiszko to express regret that he had been convicted for something he hadn't done. Anthony Beaumont-Dark, a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MP, said, 'This must be the worst miscarriage of justice of all time. It brings shame on everyone involved in the case.' He then demanded a full, independent and wide-ranging inquiry into the conviction. The Molseed family publicly apologised for the things they had said after his conviction, such as demanding that he be hanged in public. Frederick Anderson had also told the media that he would be outside the prison gates waiting for Kiszko should he ever be released. Lesley's older sister Julie Crabbe said when Kiszko was cleared: 'How could anyone feel about this innocent man who has spent sixteen years in prison and they were not very nice to him in prison. At least his mum knows that he will come home. Our Lesley will never come home again.'The Times – 19 February 1992 In February 1992, Kiszko's mother said that it was Waddington who ought to be 'strung up' for his pro-
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
views and for the way he had handled her son's defence at the 1976 trial. Lord Lane, Waddington, the four girls, Ronald Outteridge and prosecution barrister Peter Taylor all offered no apology, nor did any of them express any words of remorse or regret for what had happened. Even the West Yorkshire Police, while accepting and admitting they had been wrong, tried to justify the position they had taken in 1975. All Waddington would say was that if this evidence had been available in July 1976, the trial would have taken a very different course. Dick Holland, the surviving senior officer in charge of the original investigation, said: 'Words can't express the regret I feel for the family and for Kiszko, now it has turned out he is innocent. But the enquiry was done diligently and honestly within the terms that were legally and scientifically available. After Kiszko's arrest, the forensic science service received a hanky which may have had seminal stainings from Kiszko. After his arrest, he produced a sample in the presence of his solicitor and doctor which was sent to the laboratory for comparison. Now how much further can you go?' On 2 March 1992, Edward Tierney, who ordered the sperm tests that led to the freeing of Kiszko, was dismissed after twenty-five years because he had demanded that police surgeons should be independent of the police and
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advi ...
.


Release and death

Kiszko needed further psychiatric treatment for another month and remained in Prestwich Hospital. He was fully released on 17 March 1992 but the sixteen years of incarceration for something he had not done had both mentally and emotionally destroyed him. Kiszko became a virtual recluse and showed little interest in anything or anyone. He bought a new car (a silver
Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coeffi ...
) and drove it on short journeys to the shops,
Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...
or garden centres, or to visit relatives, but other people's apologies for what had happened, encouragement and support seemed to frighten him. As his mental health had deteriorated over the years, so now did his physical health; in October 1993, Kiszko was diagnosed with angina. Kiszko died at 1:00a.m. on 23December that year, after a severe
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
at his home, eighteen years and two days after he made the confession that helped lead to his wrongful conviction for murder. He was rushed to Rochdale Infirmary but was pronounced dead on arrival. Lesley's sister was one of those who attended his funeral, two weeks later, on 5 January 1994. Four months after her son's death, Charlotte Hedwig Kiszko, died at Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale, on 3 May, at the age of 70. The two are buried together in Rochdale Cemetery. After being released from prison, Kiszko had been told he would receive £500,000 in compensation for the years spent in prison. He had received an interim payment, but neither he nor his mother ever received the full amount they were awarded, since both died before Kiszko was due to receive it. In 1994, the surviving senior officer in charge of the original investigation, Detective Superintendent Dick Holland, and the retired
forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
who had worked on the case, Ronald Outteridge, were formally charged with 'doing acts tending to pervert the course of justice' by allegedly suppressing evidence in Kiszko's favour, namely the results of scientific tests on semen taken from the victim's body and from the accused. On
May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
1995, the case was challenged by defence barristers, arguing that the case was an abuse of process and that charges should be stayed as the passage of time had made a fair trial impossible. The presiding magistrate agreed and as the case was never presented before a jury, the law regards the accused as presumed innocent. Holland, who came to public prominence as a senior officer on the flawed investigation into the murders committed by
Peter Sutcliffe Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...
, retired in 1988, at a time when he viewed the conviction of both Kiszko and of
Judith Ward The M62 coach bombing, sometimes referred to as the M62 Massacre, occurred on 4 February 1974 on the M62 motorway in northern England, when a 25-pound (11 kg) Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb hidden inside the luggage locker ...
(whose conviction was also viewed as unsafe by the High Court in May 1992) as being among his finest hours during his thirty-five years in the police force. However, Holland was demoted during the Sutcliffe inquiry, four years after Kiszko's conviction. He died in February 2007 at the age of 74.


Ronald Castree

In October 1985, with the case being closed and the public, the police and the Molseed family firmly believing that the killer was safely behind bars, Lesley's clothes – which were taken from the crime scene – were destroyed but strips of adhesive tape had been kept; these had been used to remove fibres from the inside and outside of Lesley's semen-stained pants. Scientists from the Forensic Science Service's lab in
Wetherby Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
managed to extract sperm heads from this tape. And from these sperm heads, in 1999, for the first time ever, a DNA profile of the man who killed Lesley and ejaculated into her pants was obtained, but he was not in the national DNA Database. On 5 November 2006, it was announced that a 53-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the murder of Molseed that had taken place in 1975. DNA evidence was alleged to have shown a 'direct hit' with a sample found at the scene of the murder. Ronald Castree (born 18 October 1953 in Littleborough, near Rochdale), a
Shaw and Crompton Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...
comic book dealer, was charged with murder and made his first court appearance on 7 November 2006 where he was remanded in custody. At a court hearing on 19 April 2007, Castree pleaded not guilty. On 23 April 2007 he was refused bail. A DNA sample from Castree, taken on 1 October 2005 when he was arrested but not charged in connection with another sex attack, was a direct match with a semen sample found on her underwear, when run through the national DNA Database. Originally from the Turf Hill estate of Rochdale, Castree lived in nearby Shaw and Crompton and was a taxi driver]for many years. He was unpopular with his neighbours, who said he had a very nasty temper. His former wife said 'he was foul with his mouth, and foul with his fists'. Two weeks before Castree killed Lesley, his wife had given birth to a son. Castree was not the baby's biological father; his wife had had an affair. On 3 October 1975, Castree's wife went back into hospital with
deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...
, leaving Castree home alone on the day of the murder. She remained there for the following week. The birth of the illegitimate child may have been a trigger for Castree's murder of Lesley. Castree and his wife had two more children together, but they split in 1996 and divorced a year later. On 3 July 1976, Castree abducted and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl. On 12 July, he pleaded guilty and was fined £25 on both counts against him, which were indecent assault and incitement to commit an act of gross indecency. On 17 July 1978, Castree was fined £50 after indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy.


Trial and conviction

Castree's trial began at
Bradford Crown Court Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a p ...
on 22 October 2007. During the trial, a scientist told a jury how DNA taken from the underwear of Lesley was linked to Castree. Forensic expert Gemma Escott explained to Bradford Crown Court the chances of the semen samples belonging to anyone other than Castree were one in a billion. Castree was found guilty on 12 November 2007. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of thirty years, which is expected to keep him in prison until at least November 2036 and the age of 83.


Media

A television film adaptation of Kiszko's story was made and broadcast by ITV on 4 October 1998; ''A Life for a Life'' was directed by Stephen Whittaker, and featured Tony Maudsley as Kiszko and Olympia Dukakis as his mother Charlotte. A documentary about the case, ''Real Crime: The 30 Year Secret'', was broadcast by
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
on 29 September 2008. In the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
television series ''
Red Riding ''Red Riding'' is a British crime drama limited series written by Tony Grisoni and based on the book series of the same name by David Peace. The series comprises the novels ''Nineteen Seventy-Four'' (1999), ''Nineteen Seventy-Seven'' (2000), ' ...
'', the character of Michael Myshkin is based on Kiszko, being a simple-minded immigrant who is coerced into confessing the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. The satirical animated series ''
Monkey Dust ''Monkey Dust'' is a British adult animated satirical sketch comedy series created by Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye. The series is characterized by its dark humour, frequent shifts in animation styles, and handling of taboo topics such as be ...
'' featured Ivan Dobsky, a character similar to Kiszko, being a simple-minded East European convicted of murder after being tortured by police. In February 2003, a television appeal for new information was made by Detective Chief Superintendent Max McLean of West Yorkshire Police on the
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
programme ''
Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...
'', publicly announcing the existence of a DNA profile of the killer for the first time, but no new leads were forthcoming. As revealed in the ITV television documentary ''Real Crime: The 30 Year Secret'', Castree was convicted in 1976 of gross indecency and indecent assault against a nine-year-old girl in Rochdale; he was fined £25 (). In May 2018, the crime and the convictions were covered in a two-part series by '' Casefile True Crime Podcast''.


See also

* List of miscarriage of justice cases * Murder of Teresa de Simone *
Murder of Linda Cook The murder of Linda Cook was committed in Portsmouth on 9 December 1986. The subsequent trial led to a miscarriage of justice when Michael Shirley, an 18-year-old Royal Navy sailor, was wrongly convicted of the crime and sentenced to life impriso ...
* Murder of Wendy Sewell *
Murder of Carol Wilkinson The Murder of Carol Wilkinson was committed on 10 October 1977 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Anthony Steel spent 19 years in prison for the murder under wrongful conviction, and was acquitted in 2003. Due to poor health, he died shortly after i ...
* Murder of Jacqueline Thomas *
Innocent prisoner's dilemma The innocent prisoner's dilemma, or parole deal, is a detrimental effect of a legal system in which admission of guilt can result in reduced sentences or early parole. When an innocent person is wrongly convicted of a crime, legal systems which n ...
Still-unsolved UK cold cases in which the offender's DNA is known: *
Murder of Deborah Linsley On the afternoon of 23 March 1988, Deborah Linsley was murdered on a train between Petts Wood and London Victoria stations in Greater London. Although there were about 70 people on the train, and Linsley apparently fought and injured her attac ...
*
Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon were murdered in separate, sexually motivated attacks during 1975 in London, England. Stratford (28 December 1953 – 18 March 1975) was a bunny girl and model. Weedon (11 November 1958 – 10 Septembe ...
* Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo *
Murder of Lindsay Rimer Lindsay Jo Rimer (17 February 1981 – ''ca.''7 November 1994) was a thirteen-year-old British girl from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, who was murdered. She was last seen alive buying cornflakes at a SPAR shop on Crown Street in Hebden Bridg ...
* Murder of Lyn Bryant *
Murder of Janet Brown Janet Brown (27 January 1944 – 10 April 1995) was an English nurse who was murdered by an intruder in her house in Radnage, Buckinghamshire in 1995. The case remains unsolved, and the investigation remains open. Links have also been suggested b ...
* Murder of Melanie Hall *
Batman rapist The Batman rapist is an unidentified English serial sex offender who committed at least seventeen sexual assaults on women in the city of Bath, Somerset, between 1991 and 2000. He is the subject of Britain's longest–running serial rape investi ...
, subject to Britain's longest-running serial rape investigation


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molseed, Lesley 1975 in England 1975 murders in the United Kingdom 1970s trials 2000s trials Crime in West Yorkshire Deaths by stabbing in England Female murder victims Formerly missing people Incidents of violence against girls Murder in Greater Manchester Murder trials October 1975 crimes October 1975 events in the United Kingdom Trials in England English criminal law Legal history of England Overturned convictions in England