Leanne Tiernan

Leanne Tiernan, age 16, disappeared after a shopping trip with her best friend Sarah Whitehouse in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on 26 November 2000. Her best friend was the last person to see her before her disappearance at 4:50pm. North Yorkshire, several miles away, nine months later. John Taylor, 46 (44 at the time of the crime), at Leeds Crown Court after admitting her kidnap and murder. Taylor, who was divorced and with no previous convictions, had a son aged about 21 and a 19-year-old daughter at the time of the trial. and was given two additional life sentences.
Kidnap and murder
At his trial the court was told that Taylor had grabbed Leanne on an unlit path she frequently used near her home in Bramley, blindfolded her and led her to his house, where he murdered her. Forensics played a key part in his conviction.
Leanne's body was found in August 2001, by a man walking his dog at a beauty spot about 16 miles from her house. A forensic investigation of hairs found on her body led police to Taylor—and their inquiries turned up other evidence. They discovered Taylor had had sado-masochistic relationships with girlfriends, and he had once told a girlfriend he wanted to sleep with her 15-year-old daughter.
At Taylor's trial, Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, said the state of Leanne's body when it was found meant it was not possible to establish for certain whether she had been sexually interfered with. He said that Taylor's motive for killing her was for the purpose of sexual gratification and that Taylor had stored Leanne's body at his home, possibly in a fridge or freezer, for between three weeks and nine months, before dumping it. Taylor was a poacher who sold pet food and accessories from his home and had shown frequent cruelty to animals throughout his life and had an "extremely dangerous" nature.<ref name = "BBC" />
Trial
Taylor was told to expect to spend the rest of his life in jail for the murder<ref name="BBC"/>. Mr Justice Astill said to Taylor: "You are a dangerous sexual sadist"<ref name="BBC"/>. He said it was as cold and calculating an act as he could imagine, and the suffering Taylor had caused could not be measured. The judge said Taylor had strangled Leanne to satisfy his "perverted cravings."<ref name="BBC"/>.
Leanne's mother Sharon Hawkhead described Leanne as a happy, confident and streetwise girl<ref name="BBC"/>.
Previous offences
Police later warned that Taylor, who did not have a criminal record, could have killed before, and urged anyone with information about him to come forward. Detective Superintendent Chris Gregg, who led the investigation, said officers were now looking at other major crimes Taylor may have committed in the past 20 years. He said he was looking particularly at the 1992 killing of Bradford prostitute Yvonne Fitt whose body was found close to the same spot as Leanne's,<ref name = "Inde" /> and three other murders of which he declined to give details.
In February 2003, he was convicted of two rapes, based on DNA evidence.<ref name ="Forensics" />

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