Man guilty of killing student

Greenwood denied killing Ms Murgatroyd

The man accused of killing promising law student Janet Murgatroyd in 1996 has been convicted of manslaughter.

Andrew Greenwood, 28, was cleared of murder by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court but found guilty of manslaughter after a three-week retrial.

Greenwood had confessed to police three years after the death that he had beaten the 20-year-old student before dumping her unconscious, naked body in the River Ribble in Preston where she drowned.

But he retracted that confession and claimed he was innocent of murder.

It is the second time Greenwood had been tried for the death, after a previous jury could not reach a verdict.

Seven-year mystery solved

Ms Murgatroyd was attacked as she was walking home after a night out with friends in Preston in June 1996.

The prosecution had claimed Greenwood, of Sephton Street, Lostock Hall, Lancashire, killed Ms Murgatroyd after she spurned his advances in a chance encounter and his confession was a largely true account of what happened.

His barrister Andrew Edis QC told the court the confession was false and may have resulted from Greenwood's depression.

Greenwood will be sentenced in three weeks.