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The detective probing the unsolved murder of schoolboy Allan Graham has today told of his hopes the killer will one day reveal his deadly secret.

Today marks 50 years since the 11-year-old vanished from Newcastle's West End and was never seen alive again.

Allan was found dead in a ditch near Ponteland the following day, yet who killed him and why remains a mystery, half a century on.

Today on the landmark anniversary of the little boy's murder, the detective leading a new investigation into the baffling case has lifted the lid on the difficult probe.

And as he lays bare some of the challenges in dealing with a 50-year-old murder, Det Chief Insp Andy Fairlamb says he has not given up hope there is still someone out there who can help crack the case.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

He said: "We walked into this one knowing it was going to be difficult, and we know the chances are slim. But every investigator is a born optimist. You just never know. We are always optimistic.

“We have still got active lines of enquiry and we are still trying to locate people who were in and around the West End of Newcastle around that time. There are still people we would like to speak to.

“What happened to Allan between 1pm on January 24 and 8am on January 25, we still can’t be certain of. But unless we can ask the person who did it I don’t think we will find out.

“I think the key will be if somebody wanted to divulge what they know now. If they decided at the end of their life they have got something they want to say.

"It’s probably somebody the police spoke to at the time. But some secrets are just too big to tell."

Allan was staying with his brother Dennis Baron at his home in Benwell, when he disappeared on January 24, 1970.

The youngster, who lived with his mum Mary Wells in Gateshead, had been sent to a shop on the corner of the terrace to buy some cigarettes but never came home.

A farm worker found his body dumped in a watery ditch near Ponteland the next morning. He had been strangled.

A huge manhunt was launched to catch Allan's killer, but no one was ever arrested.

In 2014 Northumbria Police launched a new review into Allan's murder after the Chronicle highlighted the case as part of our Unsolved Crimes series.

Det Chief Insp Fairlamb, who is in charge of the probe, explained how his team have approached the case.

"This is the oldest crime I have ever investigated. You need to look to look at what they did in 1970, and although there's no criticism of what went on in 1970 it was of its time," he explained.

"If you think of modern investigative techniques, a lot of them were not available 20 years ago let alone 50 years ago. These days we would look at CCTV and telecoms, but they clearly weren't available in 1970. In terms of forensics, finger prints were all they had back in the day.

The review team has therefore been keen to discover whether or not scientific advances could help snare Allan's killer.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

Crucially they have some evidence recovered from the spot where Allan's body was found that could help.

"Like in any other cold case review forensic opportunities are the first issues that come to mind," said Det Chief Insp Fairlamb.

"Reviewing forensics has been one of the key aspects of this investigation.

"With any cold case the first thing we would look at would be forensics and ask what forensic opportunities do we have now that they didn't have then and is there anything we can do now.

"Most cold cases are based on forensics. DNA in particular has dramatically changed. And DNA opportunities are important in this enquiry.

"There is an item coming from the deposition site. It's at the very edge of science.

"We regularly speak to the forensic science service to see what's coming over the horizon. We have to wait for science to catch up, but then we have to think 'Do we do it now,' because what we do might destroy what we have.

"In this case we have been in touch with the forensic science service in Canada to see what they are doing and if it could help.

"At the moment we have done everything we can with this item, science hasn't moved any further forward."

Det Chief Insp Fairlamb's team have also been pouring over the hundreds of statements taken from witnesses at the time of the murder.

He said they are looking for accounts that do not quite match up with one another, or with what they now know to be true.

The team has then made attempts to try and trace these people and find out why they may have lied in their original statements.

But sadly this has been a frustrating process as police have discovered that many of these people have died.

(Image: newcastle chronicle)

"There were masses and masses of statements, interviews and reports to look at," Det Chief Insp Fairlamb explained.

"We have looked at who they spoke to at the time, but with a 21st century head on. We would look at statements that didn't quite match and trace these people, but when we have tried to go and see them a lot of them are dead, and that's the challenge of such an old case.

“There are also challenges in relation to locating people. If we were a 12-year-old girl in 1970 the likelihood is you are not going to have the same surname now. And the likelihood is the majority of people I’m trying to trace will end up being deceased.

"We have identified a number of people who we would have liked to have seen as witnesses and discussed their evidence, but they are deceased.

"They are people who were around at a certain time, whose evidence didn't match up with other people's or people whose evidence looks wrong.

"Some people will tell lies, but what we can't say is just because they are lying it means they have done it.

"They may have been lying because had committed some other crime. They may have been having an affair, or they may have simply not been where they were supposed to be."

The review team has also spoken to all the police officers that worked on the original investigation who are still alive.

Det Chief Insp Fairlamb said this had been really interesting for his team, and the retired officers they have spoken to remain frustrated to this day that they have been unable to solve Allan's murder.

"We have spoken to the majority of the officers that were there which has given us a really interesting insight into policing in the 1970s," he said.

"They have been really good. They instantly knew what we were talking about.

"Fortunately these murders don't occur very often so the officers that worked on that enquiry remembered it clealry. It is something that has always stayed with with them.

"They all had different opinions depending on what rank they were, but it has been personally frustrating and professionally annoying to all of the, to have been able to get to the bottom of it."

Of course when Allan was reported missing the police response in 1970 was very different to what it would have been today.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

"We spoke to the first officer who went to the house after Allan was reported missing. They reported it using the phone box down the road," Det Chief Insp Fairlamb explained.

"Nowadays if somebody rings Northumbria Police's control centre and says an 11-year-old child has been missing for seven hours you would get a very quick response, and a lot of resource.

"Allan himself was a challenge. He was an 11-year-old boy who was a heavy smoker and he used to wander the streets on his own. These days we talk a lot about vulnerability and Allan was definitely a vulnerable child.

"Bad things happen to vulnerable people because they are in vulnerable situations.

"Undoubtedly now that would have been identified and all the different organisations there to support vulnerable children would have been involved with him."

Despite all the recent investigations exactly what happened to Allan between 1pm on January 24 1970, when he was last seen, and 8am the following morning, remains a mystery.

Police still do not know where he was killed, how his body got to where it was found, or whether more than one person was involved.

But Det Chief Insp Fairlamb says police will never close the case.

"I have been involved in a lot of cold case reviews, they are seldom detected, but we often end up with being a little bit further forward," he said.

"Homicide is a very emotive crime, and from our point of view as an organisation we don't want any undetected crimes, especially when they involve the death of a child. These cases are never closed down, they will always have our focus. There is nothing more serious than the homicide of a child.

“I’m from Newcastle, I was alive when this happened. It is a window into history and we can see how different it was growing up in 1970 in comparison to growing up in 2020. It is interesting but frustrating.

"I have my own theories about what could have happened to Allan but ultimately we don't have any evidence to tell us whether or not Allan knew his killer.

"However, this is the murder of a young schoolboy and that is a very big secret for a person to keep to themselves for 50 years. It is never too late for a person to come forward.

"People's memories may have faded but if you are responsible for the murder of a child then it is not something you are ever going to forget and their is still time to speak to police."

Anyone with information about Allan Graham's murder is asked to contact Northumbria Police on 101 or fill in an online reporting form on the Northumbria Police website.

You can also report information anonymously by calling independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.