Innocent man wrongly accused of Nikki Allan’s 1992 murder breaks his silence: Neighbour cleared at trial tells how his life was ‘destroyed’ and demands answers over why it took so long for justice – as real killer is jailed for 29 years
- Nikki’s mother said ‘David Boyd destroyed the life of my beautiful daughter’
An innocent man has told how he ‘lost what little honour and property’ he had when he was wrongly accused of the murder of a seven-year-old girl more than 30 years ago.
Today paedophile David Boyd, 55, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Nikki Allen in October 1992.
Boyd – who was 25 at the time – lured Nikki Allan to an abandoned building in Sunderland’s East End in October 1992 to sexually assault her, beating her with a brick and stabbing her 37 times in the chest.
George Heron, who lived in the same flats where Nikki lived, was initially charged with the schoolgirl’s murder but he was acquitted at trial in 1993.
Mr Heron, who was 23 years old at the time, was subjected to oppressive questioning by police and made a false ‘confession’ which was ruled inadmissible by a judge.
Seven-year-old Nikki Allan was lured to her death more than 30 years ago. Today her killer David Boyd will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court
George Heron in a photo dated 1992 – police admit his life was ‘ruined’ by the false accusation of murdering Nikki
David Boyd – who was 25 at the time – lured Nikki Allan to an abandoned building in Sunderland’s East End in October 1992, where he beat her with a brick and stabbed her 37 times in the chest
Today Nikki’s mother Sharon Henderon told of the toll her daughter’s murder and three decade fight for justice has had – and said she was disappointed with Boyd’s sentence outside court.
It comes after a catalogue of errors by Northumbria Police also meant that theman wrongly accused George Heron has spent his life in hiding.
Police ‘built a case around’ Mr Heron while the man who shattered the little girl’s skull with a brick and stabbed her 37 times, was able to walk free for three decades and abuse other children.
Boyd even gave a statement to police, happy to direct them further in their unshakeable belief that Mr Heron was the killer.
George Heron had been due to make a statement to Newcastle Crown Court to tell of the devastating effect the case had on his life.
However Mrs Justice Lambert said she was unable to consider his words in passing sentence.
Following the sentencing of David Boyd, George Heron said: ‘I lost what little honour and property I had as a result of being falsely accused of Nikki Allan’s murder.’
Mr Heron, whose life was marred by the false allegations, said he ‘had to read and hear, both online and offline, malicious lies being spread about me and my family – some of whom are now deceased, and whose funerals I didn’t get a chance to attend.’
He also said he was forced to move around several times and has struggled to form relationships with people, now finding it difficult to trust.
Mr Heron said: ‘Moving around several times and trying to rebuild what is left of my life hasn’t been easy – learning to trust anyone is difficult and I haven’t even felt that I could trust in any professional to get help. I have had to learn how to adapt on my own.
‘Trusting the police has taken a long time – they still make me nervous to the point of feeling nauseous if I am alone with them.’
Mr Heron said he turned to drink for years to deal with how he was treated, adding: ‘I survive because I have to – like everyone else, I would like answers as to why it took so long to find out the truth.
Mrs Justice Lambert delivering sentencing remarks to David Boyd at Newcastle Crown Court
Nikki’s mother Sharon Henderson seen arriving at Newcastle Crown Court for David Boyd’s sentencing
Seven-year-old Nikki Allan was lured to her death more than 30 years ago. Today her killer David Boyd will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court
‘Finding out about the current investigation has been difficult – so many details and negative memories; bringing up mixed emotions about what happened back in 1992 and since I feel sadness, disgust, anger, betrayal by people I expected to tell the truth (especially the original investigating officers).
‘It is really difficult to put in words what I have felt since 1992 – going from trying to look out for my family to having my life flipped upside down.
Describing how his life has been destroyed by Nikki’s murder he said: ‘Nikki Allan’s murder destroyed so many people’s lives – I am just one of those people.
‘I could be angry about being unfairly treated from day one, but this isn’t about me – it is about getting the real truth out into the open, so her family (and what is left of mine) can have some closure and finally try to move on.’
‘My life was flipped upside down’: Innocent man describes how his life changed after being falsely accused of killing seven-year-old Nikki Allan
George Heron, who was wrongly accused of the murder of Nikki Allan before being acquitted on the orders of a judge in 1993, said: ‘I lost what little honour and property I had as a result of being falsely accused of Nikki Allan’s murder.
‘I have had to read and hear (both online and offline) malicious lies being spread about me and my family – some of whom are now deceased and whose funerals I didn’t get a chance to attend (in some cases, I didn’t even find out about their deaths until months later).
‘When I was arrested and interviewed in October 1992, my DNA was taken and has been held on record since then. The police would have been able to check it against any new developments/advances in science.
‘Moving around several times and trying to rebuild what is left of my life hasn’t been easy – learning to trust anyone is difficult and I haven’t even felt that I could trust in any professional to get help. I have had to learn how to adapt on my own.
‘Trusting the police has taken a long time – they still make me nervous to the point of feeling nauseous if I am alone with them.’
‘I don’t understand why the original officers couldn’t have admitted they made a mistake, apologised and looked at the case again – instead of having a blinkered view and not trying to put things right.
‘Originally, I was angry and upset at how I was treated – to the point that I had a drink issue for years (which I have dealt with on my own). I survive because I have to – like everyone else, I would like answers as to why it took so long to find out the truth.
‘Finding out about the current investigation has been difficult – so many details and negative memories; bringing up mixed emotions about what happened back in 1992 and since. I feel sadness, disgust, anger, betrayal by people I expected to tell the truth (especially the original investigating officers).
‘It is really difficult to put in words what I have felt since 1992 – going from trying to look out for my family to having my life flipped upside down.
‘Nikki Allan’s murder destroyed so many people’s lives – I am just one of those people. I could be angry about being unfairly treated from day one, but this isn’t about me – it is about getting the real truth out into the open, so her family (and what is left of mine) can have some closure and finally try to move on.
‘I hope that people don’t blame the present officers for the mistakes that were made in 1992/1993 – it is not their fault. It was probably as difficult for them reopening the case and they should be given credit for the work they have done trying to get it solved.’
Nikki had been playing outside the Garth flats where she lived and was seen skipping behind a suspect, now known to be Boyd – who knew her family as he was the boyfriend of their babysitter.
She was murdered in the derelict building then dumped in the basement where her shoes and coat were found outside the next morning.
Meanwhile, Boyd remained free and indecently assaulted a nine-year-old girl in a Teesside park in 1999, later confessing to his probation officer he had previously had sexual fantasises about naked ‘young girls’.
Paying tribute to her ‘bright and happy child’, Ms Henderson told of the toll her daughter’s murder and three decade fight for justice has had on her.
Read by Mr Wright, her statement said: ‘Nikki was a bright and happy child, always a mammy’s girl.
‘She had a beautiful smile and was loved. I cannot put into words how I felt on finding out Nikki was missing and ultimately found murdered.
‘I had to endure the horror of a trial in 1993 and the acquittal which followed. At that time, because of what I was told, I believed that George Heron, the man I believed was responsible, had got away with Nikki’s murder.
‘Police had stated they were not looking for anyone else. After the acquittal I was accused of being a bad mother, even though my children were looked after.
‘Local people were angry towards me, not towards the person responsible for her murder.
‘I was left feeling I had to fight for justice for Nikki. I fought tirelessly and endlessly. It just became part of my life.’
Ms Henderson said her mental and physical health has suffered over the decades and she has even been arrested herself for trying to get to the truth of what happened to her daughter.
She added: ‘I have felt so frustrated over the years as I have felt I have not been listened to. I was 25 when Nikki was murdered.
‘I speak to her all the time, I tell her I will never give up. I am 57 now, I have spent over 30 years fighting for justice.
‘My life and that of my family has never been the same since Nikki was murdered.
‘By murdering Nikki, David Boyd destroyed not only Nikki’s life, the life of my beautiful daughter, but my life and the lives of my daughters and grandchildren.
‘We have not been able to live normal lives since that day.’
Nikki’s father David Allan also had his statement read out in court, in which he described how his life had changed ‘forever’ on the night his daughter went missing.
He said: ‘I have feelings of anger and hatred. I know I will never be able to forgive the man responsible for her murder.
‘I have used alcohol to help me cope and get to sleep. I lost the stable relationship I was in, undoubtedly due to me being unable to cope of make sense of what happened to Nikki.
‘People have no way of knowing or understanding what is going on inside my head.
‘I have never been able to walk past the building in which she was found. I live close by and it is on the man through road.
‘I see it regularly and it is a constant physical reminder to me.
‘I think about Nikki lying on her own in the cold in that building that night, a building I drove past countless times searching for her.’
Mr Allan said since Nikki’s death he has been unable to attend funerals, other than those of close family, as they remind him of what happened and seeing his little girl’s coffin in the hearse.
Convicted paedophile David Boyd (pictured), 55, was found guilty of Nikki Allan’s murder
Sharon Henderson and David Allan at the funeral of their daughter Nikki in October 1992
He added that he has found his situation ‘overwhelming’ at times and said: ‘The man responsible for Nikki’s murder has lived his life for 30 years.
‘Nikki didn’t get to live hers. The conviction and sentence will be a good outcome and means the man responsible can no longer walk the streets but brings little change or comfort to my life, one I have to live without Nikki.’
George Heron, the innocent man who stood trial for her murder in 1993 and was cleared, did not read a victim impact statement.
‘David Boyd destroyed the life of my beautiful daughter’: Nikki Allan’s mother recounts the horror of the last 30 years as she finally gets justice for her daughter
Nikki’s mother Sharon Henderson, who stayed outside the courtroom, said in her statement, which was read by Mr Wright: ‘Nikki was a bright and happy child, always a mammy’s girl.
‘She had a beautiful smile and was loved. I cannot put into words how I felt on finding out Nikki was missing and ultimately found murdered.
‘I had to endure the horror of a trial in 1993 and the acquittal which followed. At that time, because of what I was told, I believed that George Heron, the man I believed was responsible, had got away with Nikki’s murder.
‘Police had stated they were not looking for anyone else. After the acquittal I was accused of being a bad mother, even though my children were looked after.
‘Local people were angry towards me, not towards the person responsible for her murder.
‘I was left feeling I had to fight for justice for Nikki. I fought tirelessly and endlessly. It just became part of my life.’
Ms Henderson said her mental and physical health has suffered over the decades and she has even been arrested herself for trying to get to the truth of what happened to her daughter.
She added: ‘I have felt so frustrated over the years as I have felt I have not been listened to. I was 25 when Nikki was murdered.
‘I speak to her all the time, I tell her I will never give up. I am 57 now, I have spent over 30 years fighting for justice.
‘My life and that of my family has never been the same since Nikki was murdered.
‘By murdering Nikki, David Boyd destroyed not only Nikki’s life, the life of my beautiful daughter, but my life and the lives of my daughters and grandchildren.
‘We have not been able to live normal lives since that day.’
Mr Wright said there had been a sexual component to the murder, given Boyd’s previous convictions for indecent exposure and indecent assault on a nine-year-old girl in a park in 1999.
Jason Pitter KC, defending, said Boyd had learning difficulties and has been assessed as having an IQ in the bottom two per cent of the population.
Mr Pitter also said it was not the defendant’s fault that Mr Heron was accused of Nikki’s murder.
Last week Northumbria Police issued formal apologies to Nikki’s family for the length of time it has taken them to bring Boyd to justice, and to Mr Heron, 53, who had to leave Sunderland and start a new life, despite being found not guilty.
Mr Heron was 23 years old at the time and living in the same block of flats in Sunderland as Nikki.
Police became fixated on him and only treated Boyd, another local resident, as a witness despite him having convictions of a sexual nature.
Months after this he indecently exposed himself to a woman out jogging. For whatever reason, convictions six years before the murder didn’t register with police either.
So convinced were police that Heron was the killer that alarm bells still didn’t ring in 1997 when Boyd admitted exposing himself to thee young girls in a park.
And in 1999 when he indecently assaulted a nine-year-old girl, also in a park, and was jailed for 18 months. The offence put him on the Sex Offenders Register.
While awaiting sentence Boyd told his probation officer that at the age of 22, he began having obscene sexual fantasies about young girls. He said it was a ‘phase’ he went through.
However, Mr Heron was subjected to oppressive questioning and denied having any involvement in the murder 120 times, during three days of interviews, before he made some kind of confession – which was ruled inadmissible by a judge and kept a secret from jurors.
Meanwhile, Boyd remained free and indecently assaulted a nine-year-old girl in a Teesside park in 1999, later confessing to his probation officer he had previously had sexual fantasises about naked ‘young girls’.
After being found not guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court in 1993, Heron, a Roman Catholic and bachelor who was described as a ‘loner’, said publicly ‘I did not kill Nikki.’
Adding he remained in fear of his life: ‘I’m glad to be free, but I will still be living in fear for a long time yet. I watch every face and I am still very unsure of anyone I don’t know.’
The furore and threats that followed effectively forced Mr Heron into exile and for the best part of three decades he has been estranged from his family.
In 1996 a Sunday newspaper tracked him down to Reading where he was working as a hostel care worker.
He insisted he had been falsely accused and said: ‘There were times I wondered if I had killed Nikki. So many people said I had that I started to doubt myself. I confessed because the police put me under so much pressure.’
Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Simpson previously said the mistakes by police in the 90s had a ‘huge impact on George Heron’s life’ and it was ‘right to acknowledge that’ on behalf of the force.
Nikki (picutred) had been playing outside the Garth flats where she lived and was seen skipping behind a suspect, now known to be Boyd
The crime scene in the Old Exchange Building in Sunderland’s East End where Nikki was brutally murdered in 1992
For more than 30 years Sharon Henderson never gave up hope of seeing her daughter’s killer brought to justice, keeping pressure on the police at great personal cost to her mental health.
She has made no secret of her alcohol and mental health problems, triggered by the crime and her resulting obsession that the killer must be caught.
In 2014, Northumbria Police arrested 47-year-old serial killer Steven Grieveson, who was already in prison for murdering four teenage boys, on suspicion of Nikki’s murder.
He was questioned and bailed but he faced no further action.
Ms Henderson’s efforts resulted in a meeting in 2017 with Northumbria Police Chief Constable Steve Ashman and the subsequent decision to fund a proper review of the case using the latest forensic techniques.
READ MORE: How Nikki Allan’s mother finally got justice… after 30 years: Heartbroken parent of seven-year-old girl never stopped trying to track down the child’s killer – and hounded police until they used new DNA technique to nail the murderer
Even the police accept David Boyd may not have been caught but for Ms Henderson’s perseverance.
‘I was so badly let down by the police, they had so many chances to catch Boyd years and years ago,’ said Ms Henderson. ‘To hear everything they missed or failed to investigate has been devastating.’
New DNA techniques extracted traces on Nikki’s clothing and that breakthrough ultimately led police to Boyd, but also involved more than 800 Sunderland men volunteering to give DNA samples so they could be eliminated from the inquiry.
The new police team used a brand new ‘Y’ DNA technique – which separates the male bloodline – to crack the case.
Boyd was convicted of her murder earlier this month after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Outside court on Wednesday, Nikki Allan’s mother Sharon Henderson was disappointed with the 29-year minimum term and said she had only been told today that Boyd would be dealt with under the sentencing regime of the early 1990s, when minimum terms were usually shorter.
‘This is what happens to families like mine over and over again – injustice.’
Speaking on Ms Henderon’s behalf outside court, Harriet Wistrich, director at the Centre for Women’s Justice said it was ‘not the end of her campaign for justice’.
She said: ‘Now, Sharon demands that Northumbria police are held accountable for their historic failures that allowed a 31-year wait until the right man was convicted of Nikki’s murder.
‘The full extent of the failures remain unknown and therefore we are demanding a public inquiry to examine the historic investigation which led to the wrong man being prosecuted and the police failing to consider alternative suspects until over 20 years later.
Ms Wistrich also confirmed they were ‘preparing a complaint to be lodged with the Independent Office of Police Complaints and exploring a civil claim for damages on Sharon’s behalf.’
Following Boyd’s sentencing, Northumbria Police detective chief superintendent Lisa Theaker said: ‘First and foremost, my thoughts are with Nikki’s family.
‘I would like to thank them for their patience and strength shown during their relentless pursuit of justice.
‘The pain and suffering that David Boyd has caused to so many people is beyond measure.’
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