difficult to scale the slope to the murder spot. The sperm findings were suppressed by the police and never disclosed to the defence team or the jury; neither was the medical evidence of his broken ankle disclosed to the court. Kiszko gave evidence that, in July 1975, he had become ill and was admitted to Birch Hill Hospital, where he was given a blood transfusion. In August, he was transferred to a Manchester hospital and diagnosed as anaemic along with what he understood was a 'hormone deficiency' (which was in fact Klinefelter syndrome). Kiszko agreed to injections to rectify the latter problem and was discharged in September. He said correctly that he had never met Lesley and therefore could not have murdered her, and he claimed he was tending to his father's grave in Halifax with his aunt at the time of the murder, before visiting a garden centre and then going home. When asked why he had confessed, Kiszko replied, 'I started to tell these lies and they seemed to please them and the pressure was off as far as I was concerned. I thought if I admitted what I did to the police they would check out what I had said, find it untrue and would then let me go.' Kiszko's conviction was secured by a 10–2 majority verdict on 21 July 1976 after five hours and thirty-five minutes of deliberation. He was given a life sentence for committing Lesley's murder. The judge praised the three teenage girls who had made the exposure claims, Buckley in particular, for their 'bravery and honesty' in giving evidence in court and their 'sharp observations'. The evidence given by Hind was read out in court. Park said that Buckley's '[s]harp eyes set this train of inquiry into motion'. He also praised the police officers involved in the case 'for their great skill in bringing to justice the person responsible for this dreadful crime and their expertise in sifting through masses of material', adding, 'I would like all the officers responsible for the result to be specially commended and these observations conveyed to the Chief Constable.' DS John Akeroyd and DS Holland were singled out for praise. Sheila Buckley, whose daughter Maxine played a major part in securing Kiszko's conviction, criticised the police for not arresting Kiszko earlier and told the Manchester Evening News that '... children are a lot safer, now this