Molseed accused claims 'fit-up'

A man accused of murdering a schoolgirl more than 30 years ago has denied killing her, telling a court police told him "they would fit him up".

Ronald Castree, 54, from Shaw, Oldham, denies murdering Lesley Molseed, whose body was found on moors between West Yorkshire and Manchester in 1975.

Mr Castree told Bradford Crown Court he reported a robbery at his workplace in 1979 when police "made threats".

His defence QC named paedophile Raymond Hewlett as the "probable killer".

Asked directly when he took the stand in his own defence if he had killed the youngster, Mr Castree said: "No sir. I did not kill Lesley Molseed."

Earlier, Rodney Jameson QC, defending, said it was "overwhelmingly probable" that "a dangerous and violent paedophile" called Raymond Hewlett murdered her.

"The Lesley Molseed case was mentioned then"
Defendant Ronald Castree's claim

Hewlett was convicted of sex attacks in the 1970s and is currently at large.

Lesley Molseed's body was found dumped on bleak Pennine moorland in 1975.

Mr Castree admitted a sex attack on a nine-year-old girl in 1976 - a crime he said he was "still ashamed of".

"It's caused me sleepless nights," he said.

He then told the jury how he was arrested in 1979 after he reported a robbery at his workplace, but police believed he was involved in the crime.

The defendant said he was punched in the stomach by police officers at the station. He told the court the officers then threatened to "fit him up for something more serious" if he did not confess to the robbery.

He told the jury: "The Lesley Molseed case was mentioned then."

The trial continues.

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