She kissed her boyfriend goodnight and began to walk home - she never made it back alive

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

In a school garden bathed in rays of winter sun is a plaque next to a silver birch tree. They are there to make sure one woman is never forgotten.

A simple gold inscription is embossed on the slate memorial. The sapling replaced a cherry blossom which was planted in the same soil four decades ago but destroyed in a storm in 2022.

They lie in The Quadrangle at Bedford High School in Leigh where Lisa Jane Hession was once a pupil. A cross country runner with Leigh Harriers, talented gymnast and confident 14-year-old, she was outgoing and popular. READ MORE: 'We can’t have homes with no roads' - Fears over plan to build 2,000 new homes in Greater Manchester town But on the night of December 8, 1984 - 40 years ago today - she was found strangled in an alleyway near her home in the town.

She was the victim of a sex attack and the culprit has never been caught. In the months that followed, Neil Stephan, a classmate, and others found a way of making sure the girl with a zest for life was forever remembered at her school.