Girls lose wheelie-bin murder appeal

The girls were tried at Manchester Crown Court

Two schoolgirls found guilty of brutally murdering a pensioner in her home in Greater Manchester have lost their appeal against conviction.

Lawyers for the pair, who are now 17, had argued in the Court of Appeal that the facts of the case were more consistent with a "robbery gone wrong" than with any intent to cause serious bodily harm.

They also argued that the girls, who were 15 and 14 at the time of the murder, should have been dealt with on the basis of diminished responsibility.

Lily Lilley, who was 71, choked on her dentures after being attacked and gagged with a bandage inside her home in West Street in Failsworth in September 1998.

Lily Lilley choked on her dentures

After dismissing the appeals, the judges continued an order banning the media from naming the girls pending a possible move to take the case to the House of Lords.

Psychiatric reports on how publicity might affect their rehabilitation are still to be produced.

At the trial in July 1999, Manchester Crown Court heard that the girls had befriended the victim and been invited into her house for a cup of tea.

'Unspeakably wicked'

The prosecution told the court that they intended to take over her house and use it to entertain men, but Greater Manchester Police said they were baffled about the motives for the murder.

They stuffed her body in a wheelie-bin which they pushed through the streets of Failsworth and into the Rochdale Canal while laughing and giggling.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Sachs, in sentencing the pair to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, described the crime as "unspeakably wicked".