Trevor Hardy

Trevor Joseph Hardy (11 June 1945 – 25 September 2012), also known as the Beast of Manchester, was a convicted English serial killer who murdered three teenage girls in the Manchester area between December 1974 and March 1976. In 1977, he was found guilty on three charges of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, remaining in prison until his death 35 years later.

Murders Janet Lesley Stewart, 15, was stabbed to death on New Year's Eve 1974 and buried in a shallow grave in Newton Heath, North Manchester.

Arrest, trial and conviction

Although Hardy was arrested for Skala's murder after bragging about it to his younger brother, he was freed on the basis of an alibi he had arranged with his partner, Sheilagh Farrow, and because he had filed his teeth with a contraband file delivered by Farrow they would not match the bite marks found on her body.

Hardy served his sentence more than 30 years after his arrest at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire, where he was reported to have a "good work record". Detectives reviewing the cold case believe forensic evidence exonerates Hardy in the murder of Leyden, as DNA samples examined more than 30 years after the crime were found not to match Hardy.

Death Hardy collapsed in his cell at Wakefield Prison on 23 September 2012 after suffering a heart attack. He died in hospital two days later, aged 67. He had spent 35 years in prison and was one of the longest-serving prisoners in England and Wales.