Murder of Lesley Molseed - Police Cleared of Any Wrongdoing

Police Cleared of Any Wrongdoing

In 1994 the surviving senior officer in charge of the original investigation Detective Superintendent Dick Holland and the forensic scientist who worked on the case Ronald Outteridge (retired), were formally charged with "doing acts tending to pervert the course of justice" by allegedly suppressing evidence against Kiszko, namely the results of scientific tests on semen taken from the victim's body and from the accused. On May Day, 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 the Yorkshire Ripper, retired in 1988, at a time when he viewed the conviction of both Kiszko and of Judith Ward (In May 1992 her conviction was also viewed as unsafe by the High Court) as being among his finest hours during his 35 years in the police force. However, Holland was demoted during the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry four years after Kiszko's conviction. He died in February 2007 at the age of 74.