Hanging 'not linked' to abduction

Lee Bayley has been ruled out of the abduction of the little girl

Police have ruled out any link between the death of a 30-year-old man and the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl snatched from a bath.

The body of Lee Bayley, of Bewicke Road, was found hanging in a flat near the girl's home in Willington Quay, North Tyneside.

She was snatched, sexually assaulted and later found naked in an alley close to her home on 27 December.

But police said forensic tests had found "no evidence" to link the cases.

A post-mortem examination on Friday confirmed that Mr Bayley died from pressure on the neck caused by hanging and the death was not suspicious.

But after an extensive forensic inquiry, Northumbria Police have now ruled Mr Bayley out of the abduction probe.

Found shivering

A police spokeswoman said: "Extensive inquiries and forensic tests have provided no evidence at this time to link Lee Bayley with the abduction and assault of a six-year-old girl in Willington Quay.

"Detectives are continuing to explore a number of other lines of inquiry into the abduction."

Lee Bayley was in the news in May 1996 when he was the victim of an attack by football hooligans.

Detectives launched a large-scale investigation after the girl's mother discovered she was missing from the ground-floor bathroom of their home.

She was found shivering by a resident in Armstrong Road, Willington Quay, as little as 15 minutes after being snatched.

According to the girl's description, her abductor was between 5ft 4in and 5ft 8in, possibly with sideburns or unshaven.