KILLER OF NIKKI, 7, IS NAILED AT LAST

A PAEDOPHILE has been found guilty of murdering schoolgirl Nikki Allan, bringing to an end her mum's 30-year quest for justice

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG

David Boyd, 55, lured seven-year-old neighbour Nikki to a derelict warehouse where he attacked her with a brick and stabbed her to death in 1992.

In the decades that followed, Boyd used seven different names as he evaded the authorities despite a history of sex offences involving children.

There was a huge cheer from the court's public gallery after the verdict was announced. The girl's mum Sharon Henderson, 56, wept tears of relief.

Nikki's emotional sister Stacey shouted: "Thank you, jury." Stacey, 39, said later: "We never thought we would see this day.

"It is an amazing feeling having that verdict. We are ecstatic.

"I was close to Nikki. It is justice at last for her - this is the best day of my life.

"We were starting to give up hope after 25 years. But my mum persevered. She is an amazing woman." CCTV images captured Nikki alive for the last time as she "skipped to her death" alongside Boyd. She trusted him because he was the boyfriend of her babysitter.

Boyd left Nikki's body with 37 stab wounds in the warehouse basement near her home.

His despicable crime finally caught up with him as the jury took less than two hours to convict him of murder.

BEAST

Nikki's mum never gave up her relentless search for the killer.