ITV series explores shocking murder on Grindr date

THE murder of a Skelmersdale teenager who was stabbed 128 times after being lured into the woods is featured in a new ITV series.

- BY JAMIE GREER

Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in the West Lancashire village of Parbold in April 2019 by Brian Healless.

They had agreed to meet through the dating app Grindr.

The case is being covered as part of a new ITV series called Britain's Countryside Killers, which looks at murder cases in rural areas.

There are 10 episodes in total, each covering a separate killing.

In the trial at Preston Crown Court in 2020, Alex, who was from Skelmersdale and worked at Home Bargains, was described as "gentle and kindhearted".

The court heard that Healless, from Chorley, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killing, but a jury rejected his partial defence that his responsibility for the killing was diminished by his mental state. He was given a life sentence with a minimum of 24 years.