A killer who cheated justice for three decades after murdering a seven-year-old girl was jailed for at least 29 years.
David Boyd, now 55, was convicted of the 1992 murder of schoolgirl Nikki Allan after advances in DNA technology allowed police to link him to the crime.
Boyd lured the schoolgirl to a derelict warehouse in Sunderland's East End before beating her with a brick and stabbing her in the chest 37 times.
Nikki was either dead or dying when she was dumped in the basement of the Old Exchange building, with her shoes and coat discovered the following morning by people searching for her.
She was last seen by a witness playing outside a block of flats where she lived and skipping behind a suspect - now known to be Boyd, the boyfriend of a woman who babysat for Nikki's family.
Police prosecuted an innocent suspect, George Heron, for murder in 1993 but he was acquitted.
At Newcastle Crown Court, the judge, Mrs Justice Lambert, said under current rules she would have jailed Boyd for a minimum of 37 years but she had to comply with the sentencing regulations in 1992.
She handed Boyd a life sentence with a minimum term of 29 years and said of Nikki's murder: "It must have been a truly terrifying experience for this seven-year-old girl."
The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: www.judiciary.uk/judgments/r-...
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