A new BBC Crimewatch appeal has been launched to solve the brutal murder of Diane Sindall, a 21-year-old florist killed in a frenzied sex attack in Birkenhead in 1986. The case has been reopened after the wrong man spent 38 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence.
Merseyside Police have ruled out 500 men through DNA testing and are now focusing on a couple seen arguing on Borough Road near where Diane was last seen alive. A taxi driver told Crimewatch he saw a couple arguing at about 12.10am on August 1, 1986, describing the man as white, in his 20s, 5ft 10in, with brown hair and no facial hair, wearing a brown hip-length jacket and baggy jeans.
Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said: 'From the timing and the sighting, I believe that is potentially going to be Diane with our offender but I need to eliminate it either way. I believe that to be potentially our last sighting of Diane.' Police also revealed that a teenage girl was assaulted on the same road earlier that night and was seen sitting distressed on a bench wearing a distinctive yellow top and pants.
Diane had been working a late shift at the Wellington Pub in Bebington and left at 11.45pm. Her blue van ran out of petrol, and she was seen walking along Borough Road. Her body was found partially naked in an alley the next morning, having been sexually assaulted and murdered. Semen was recovered from the scene, and DNA analysis is now being used to search for familial matches.
Days after the murder, a couple walking their dog on Bidston Hill found Diane's clothes in a small fire, along with a bank slip bearing her name. The brutality of the attack led to the killer being dubbed the 'Beast of Birkenhead'. Detective Superintendent Wilson added: 'It was a crime that left women feeling unsafe in the local area. It’s such a normal thing to do isn’t it, your car breaks down and you go and get petrol and Diane should have been safe when she’s done that.'
