THE family of a schoolgirl who was murdered in 1965 have been given the right to apply for a fresh inquest after her suspected killer died.
Elsie Frost was stabbed to death as she walked home in West Yorkshire.
There were no successful prosecutions over her murder.
Convicted child murderer Peter Pickering, who was dubbed ‘the Beast of Wombwell’, was expected to be charged but he died in March.
The attorney general Geoffrey Cox QC, said there was new evidence which an inquest in 1966 did not hear.
The coroner recorded a verdict that Elsie Frost had died of multiple stab wounds and had been murdered by Ian Bernard Spencer.
But the attorney general said: “Having considered the application, I have given consent to the family of Elsie Frost to apply to the High Court for a new inquest into her death.
“I am satisfied that there is new evidence available that was not put before the previous inquest, and I believe that it is in the interests of justice for the application for a new inquest to be heard by the High Court.”
Peter Pickering, 80, stabbed and strangled 14-year-old Shirley Boldy in Wombwell in 1972 and was suspected of murdering Wakefield schoolgirl Elsie in 1965.
Shortly before he died, he was convicted of raping a woman weeks before he killed Shirley and was waiting to be sentenced.
He had been detained under a hospital order since admitting killing Shirley.
West Yorkshire Police said Pickering died after falling ill in a secure psychiatric accommodation in Berkshire and his death was not treated as suspicious.
After Pickering’s death, police confirmed he was arrested and interviewed as part of a renewed investigation in to Elsie’s murder.
Det Sup Nick Wallen said West Yorkshire Police ‘strongly suspected’ that Pickering had been responsible.
