Tragedy mum maintains hope that DNA evidence will find her child’s killer

The mother of a seven-year-old girl horrifically murdered 23 years ago has refused to visit her daughter’s grave until her killer is brought to justice.

Heartbroken Sharon Henderson lit a simple candle next to a framed photograph of tragic Nikki Allan to mark what would have been her daughter’s 29th birthday yesterday.

Nikki was brutally murdered by being battered with a brick and stabbed 37 times her lifeless body dumped in a derelict building in Sunderland in 1992.

Sharon, a 49-year-old grandmother, believes a review of DNA evidence taken from her daughter’s clothes could lead to her killer. But she claims detectives have kept her in the dark over the DNA testing, piling more misery on her family.

Sharon said: “I will not be going to see Nikki’s grave because I am trying to focus on the police solving her case.

“Instead, I lit a candle next to her picture. It is too hard to go and see her because I am having to block out the emotional side.

“They said they would have the results of the DNA testing in July but I’ve not heard anything for weeks.”

Sharon, of Ryhope, Sunderland, revealed she is in discussion with her London-based solicitor about hiring a private detective to take on the case.

But Sharon has accused Northumbria Police of “failing” her daughter after recent developments raised her hopes only for them to be dashed again.

They included the arrest of killer Steven Grieveson, who is serving at least 35 years in jail for strangling four boys.

Sharon collapsed when detectives told her Grieveson, 44, had been arrested. She suffered a stroke she believes brought on by the shock and has two blot clots on her brain.

The mum-of-three said police have now “quietly dropped” Grieveson as a suspect.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “Investigations into this case are continuing, which include a review of DNA evidence.”