The innocent man jailed for brutal murder of a little girl

Documentary examines case labelled 'worst miscarriage of all time'

- Helena Vesty

LESLEY Molseed was just 11 when, on October 5, 1975, she was sent to the shop close to her home in Turf Hill, Rochdale, to buy a loaf of bread for her mum.

She never made it home, her body being found three days later facedown on moorland between Oldham and Ripponden, around 40 yards from the A672.

The little girl had been stabbed 12 times and sexually assaulted. Her death sent shockwaves through the community and sparked a huge manhunt, led by West Yorkshire Police.

Stefan Kiszko was 23, a vulnerable man with learning difficulties, when the accusations started coming in. He lived near Lesley and, in the minds of detectives, was the kind of man who might fit the profile of the killer.

A timid and teetotal tax clerk and church-goer, Mr Kiszko was arrested after three girls told police he had indecently exposed himself to them just days before Lesley was found dead.

It was the start of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK history - which is about to be shown in fresh detail in a new documentary.

Mr Kiszko had never been in trouble with police before. But his unusual hobby of noting down number plates he had jotted down the number of one car which had been seen near the crime scene - roused further suspicion of this 'odd' man.