:00:00. > :00:07.Monday. That is all from the BBC's
:00:08. > :00:16.Hello and welcome to Thursday's Look North. In the headlines tonight:
:00:17. > :00:18.Convicted of murdering his fourth victim. Serial killer Steven
:00:19. > :00:30.Grieveson will spend at least 35 years in jail. He will spend the
:00:31. > :00:35.rest of his days behind bars. No family should have to suffer the
:00:36. > :00:38.heartache we have had to endure. But mistakes by the police and the
:00:39. > :00:46.pathologist after the first killing meant Grieveson could kill again `
:00:47. > :00:51.three times. We need to place it in the context of 1990.
:00:52. > :00:54.In other news, there are accidental death verdicts on the two girls who
:00:55. > :00:57.drowned in the River Wear. And the Newcastle United fan who
:00:58. > :00:59.punched a police horse after the last Tyne`Wear derby is jailed for
:01:00. > :01:02.12 months. In sport ` Middlesbrough's caretaker
:01:03. > :01:08.boss tells us about an emotional roller`coaster since the sacking of
:01:09. > :01:11.club legend Tony Mowbray. And as we count down to the
:01:12. > :01:13.Wear`Tyne derby, two former captains take to the golf course in search of
:01:14. > :01:28.bragging rights. He murdered three teenage boys in
:01:29. > :01:33.the early 1990s and now he's been convicted of killing a fourth.
:01:34. > :01:37.Steven Grieveson killed Thomas Kelly, David Hanson and David Grieff
:01:38. > :01:45.in a four`month killing spree in the winter of 1993/94. But his previous
:01:46. > :01:52.murder, of 14`year`old Simon Martin in 1990, had gone undetected. We've
:01:53. > :01:53.a special report on the extraordinary background to that
:01:54. > :01:57.shortly. But today, a jury took less than an
:01:58. > :02:01.hour to find Grieveson guilty and he'll serve a minimum of 35 years in
:02:02. > :02:06.prison. Our Chief Reporter, Chris Stewart, has been in court.
:02:07. > :02:09.Yes ` Grieveson admitted the killing but wanted the jury to believe he
:02:10. > :02:12.wasn't guilty of murder because his mental condition prevents him from
:02:13. > :02:21.self`restraint ` but the jury decided that wasn't the case.
:02:22. > :02:25.It's taken 23 years for full justice for the families of all four of his
:02:26. > :02:28.victims. Those families have behaved with dignity throughout. Simon's
:02:29. > :02:42.family have never spoken about their son's death. Today, they did, for
:02:43. > :02:46.the very first time. Today is the end of a long journey
:02:47. > :02:51.for us which will finally give us closer. I would like to thank the
:02:52. > :02:59.police and all those who have worked on this case to get the decision
:03:00. > :03:06.today. It has been traumatic and life changing experience. Now he
:03:07. > :03:13.will spend the rest of his days behind bars. No other family should
:03:14. > :03:20.have to suffer the heartache we have suffered.
:03:21. > :03:23.23 years is a long time to wait for justice. And today, the families
:03:24. > :03:32.praised the police for never giving up. But the way this final chapter
:03:33. > :03:34.was finally closed is a story in itself. Because the original
:03:35. > :03:47.investigation into Simon's murder wasn't what it should have been.
:03:48. > :04:00.The people who have lived here know that Stephen Grierson killed for ``
:04:01. > :04:04.four. If the investigation had not been so
:04:05. > :04:14.flawed with the three other than is be alive today?
:04:15. > :04:21.Simon Martin was 14. He had been led to this derelict house. Stephen
:04:22. > :04:38.Grierson committed a sexual assault on him and then throttled him.
:04:39. > :04:54.Police say it so far there has been a pure response...
:04:55. > :04:58.The investigation was about to encounter its first error. A
:04:59. > :05:03.pathologist feels too noticed strangulation marks on the neck of
:05:04. > :05:07.the victim. He also said the victim had died within 48 hours of the body
:05:08. > :05:12.being discovered, when in fact he had lain dead for one week. But
:05:13. > :05:23.police would waste time and resources. A trawl through newspaper
:05:24. > :05:29.files of the time reveals something else. That police had failed to spot
:05:30. > :05:33.what the killing was all about. They said there was no sign of a sexual
:05:34. > :05:55.assault. The had missed a huge Clune.
:05:56. > :06:01.`` they had missed a clue. This is perhaps the most baffling
:06:02. > :06:06.part of the story. When this known liar told them he had never been
:06:07. > :06:12.inside the house they seem to have taken him at his word. Instead the
:06:13. > :06:21.police would arrest a 16`year`old whose fingerprints were found at the
:06:22. > :06:32.house. The killer remained at large. Three years later, the more
:06:33. > :06:37.killings. `` the more killings. All were found in roughly the same
:06:38. > :06:46.area with ligatures tied around their necks. Obviously a serial
:06:47. > :06:59.killer bash knocked to the police. `` obviously a serial killer, but
:07:00. > :07:01.not in the opinion of the police. Your children were telling you that
:07:02. > :07:08.this was not the case with these boys. You were telling the police
:07:09. > :07:14.that you did not believe that this was the case. I had no evidence to
:07:15. > :07:22.suggest that these boys were involved in drugs. Do you think the
:07:23. > :07:28.police stating this in public hampered their investigation to stop
:07:29. > :07:35.them finding the truth? Reflection it probably did. If you have your
:07:36. > :07:40.mind made up that this has happened, it is self`inflicted, why
:07:41. > :07:46.bother looking for anybody else rest and Mark by now the parents of one
:07:47. > :07:54.of the dead boys were seeing this was not boost the thing, this was
:07:55. > :07:57.murder. And then Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Shenton
:07:58. > :08:05.investigation on its head. He was called in to review the case and
:08:06. > :08:17.asked a simple question. `` the detective Kate Chief Superintendent
:08:18. > :08:21.turned their case on its head. The new pathologist asked to look at
:08:22. > :08:34.all for killings. He found one of the victims had been strangled.
:08:35. > :09:00.There were fingerprint marks on the neck. Material had been pressed hard
:09:01. > :09:06.on the net. `` on the neck. Directly beneath the body of the victim was a
:09:07. > :09:16.sample which contained the DNA of the killer. It was sent for analysis
:09:17. > :09:29.in 2000, but the killer was still not charged.
:09:30. > :09:33.But police say the question of whether the three elastic DIMMs
:09:34. > :09:37.would still be alive is impossible to answer.
:09:38. > :09:41.The police investigation in 1990, when Simon Martin was killed, was
:09:42. > :09:44.clearly flawed. What have the police in 2013 had to say?
:09:45. > :09:48.Well, they'd already apologised to the families of the three boys they
:09:49. > :09:55.said had been solvent abusers ` something that simply wasn't true.
:09:56. > :09:59.And although all the officers involved in the latest investigation
:10:00. > :10:02.had nothing to do with the first one, Northumbria Police have, to
:10:03. > :10:12.their credit, taken on what we've discovered ` and did give us
:10:13. > :10:23.answers. It is not an exact science. In
:10:24. > :10:28.relation to the marks on the neck, having read those reports, yes that
:10:29. > :10:38.was missed. However they were light marks. In 1995 when those marks were
:10:39. > :10:48.known, even then the CPS did not think there was enough evidence.
:10:49. > :10:53.Maybe with the benefit of hindsight I would accept what you were saying,
:10:54. > :11:02.but at that time there was a sighting. They were unknown to each
:11:03. > :11:14.other. `` they were known to each other. And we had the pathologist
:11:15. > :11:22.report emphasising more towards the 26th then the 18th.
:11:23. > :11:35.The evidence that was collated in the review, all that was in the file
:11:36. > :11:41.of evidence that led to the CPS. This CPS made the decision there was
:11:42. > :11:47.not sufficient evidence to charge. We are never going to know that. The
:11:48. > :11:57.way we investigate homicides has changed dramatically, and for the
:11:58. > :12:02.better. That is supported with significant developments in
:12:03. > :12:07.forensics work. We now have CCTV evidence, mobile phone evidence,
:12:08. > :12:17.which has changed the way we investigate. We need to place it in
:12:18. > :12:27.the context of 1990, and not judge it with the standards of 2013.
:12:28. > :12:31.The families of two of the victims had written letters that they had
:12:32. > :12:38.hoped to pass to the Keller, that's the killer refused to appear. One of
:12:39. > :12:45.the letters says, we will never forgive you for the fair and pain
:12:46. > :12:54.you are infected. Another C says out of the emotions, forgiveness for you
:12:55. > :12:57.is not one of them. `` another letter says.
:12:58. > :13:01.Although Grieveson will technically be able to apply for parole when
:13:02. > :13:09.he's 78, he's such a danger that it's likely he'll die behind bars.
:13:10. > :13:11.Three men and a teenager from Middlesbrough have been accused of
:13:12. > :13:21.being involved in the grooming and sexual exploitation of young girls.
:13:22. > :13:25.The seven girls ` aged between 13 and 15 ` were said to have been
:13:26. > :13:33.befriended by the men, with one offering free taxi rides. Stuart
:13:34. > :13:41.Whincup reports from Teesside Crown Court. The court heard the young
:13:42. > :13:45.girls were vulnerable and were groomed and passed around, in some
:13:46. > :13:49.cases, from man to man. An inquest has been told of the
:13:50. > :13:50.frantic efforts made to save two teenage girls who drowned in the
:13:51. > :14:15.River Wear. Three of the accused all deny
:14:16. > :14:20.sexually exploiting the girls. The trial is expected to last for four
:14:21. > :14:25.weeks. An inquest has been told of the
:14:26. > :14:28.frantic efforts made to save two teenage girls who drowned in the
:14:29. > :14:31.River Wear. Tonibeth Purvis, who was 15, tried to save her 14`year`old
:14:32. > :14:39.friend Chloe Fowler as she was swimming at Fatfield, near
:14:40. > :14:42.Washington last July. But both were overwhelmed by fast`flowing water. A
:14:43. > :14:44.coroner today recorded verdicts of accidental death for both girls.
:14:45. > :14:48.Richard Moss reports. The inquest was told the two girls
:14:49. > :14:49.were with five friends when Chloe and another girl went into the
:14:50. > :52:32.river. Within