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00:01Every 90 seconds, someone is reported missing.
00:06Many return to their families.
00:10For others, something has gone seriously wrong.
00:13I will not stop till we get some proper justice.
00:18In London, a young mother has disappeared.
00:21The officers put in charge had a sense
00:24that this was something more than just a missing person.
00:28What happens in the investigation that follows?
00:32Nothing. Nothing.
00:34It was as if she disappeared from the face of the earth.
00:39What happens to the family at its heart?
00:42This was not a man of integrity.
00:45This was a man who had many hidden tales about his life.
00:51When missing, turns to murder.
01:08Jane was a very happy person. She was kind. She was funny.
01:12We just all loved her so much.
01:15Obviously growing up was the best time of our life
01:18because we had the most magnificent family ever.
01:23They were a very close-knit family.
01:26And Jane obviously loved life.
01:30We was all young. We loved going out. We loved partying.
01:33The most happiest days of our life.
01:37Jane was a very, very bouncy, bubbly, kind, happy person.
01:42There wasn't anybody that had arguments with Jane.
01:47She would just be just so free and happy.
01:54With Jane, obviously I laugh and I think back on her.
01:58She was so funny.
02:00I mean, me and I used to only have to look at each other in my mum's house
02:03and we would just burst out laughing.
02:06We would just really keep laughing.
02:08Jane had the best laugh ever.
02:10And she was cheeky.
02:13I just loved her so much.
02:15And she loved me.
02:18She's very beautiful, Jane.
02:20It wasn't just Jane's looks.
02:23It was the person she was, how free she was, how happy she was.
02:27And that just shone.
02:30When she walked in the room, you would know that she was there
02:33because of her presence.
02:35Not because she was lad, but because of the presence of who she was.
02:39It just shone from her.
02:43Jane seemed to be a bright, bubbly, intelligent, fun girl to be with
02:49who enjoyed her time out.
02:50She was a single mum and she had two children she absolutely adored.
02:55She came from a very tight family.
02:57You never saw Jane without her children.
03:01She would always have her children with her, you know.
03:05Jane was a fantastic mother.
03:07She was delighted when she had Taylor.
03:10She was over the moon because he was gorgeous and so was Ryan.
03:14Jane was a very devoted mum.
03:16She had a bondship with Ryan for many years before Taylor ever come along.
03:23You know, she just adored her children.
03:26She adored her family.
03:28Come Friday night, me and Jane had loved the weekend.
03:32We loved the weekend.
03:33This is before we had kids.
03:35We loved it.
03:36We used to cry when the weekend was over because we used to have such a ball.
03:41And then we'd go and sit in the bedroom and we'd just talk about our weekend that we've had.
03:47And who we met, who we liked and who we didn't like.
03:51You know, she was just, she was a beautiful person.
03:54You know, she was the best sister ever.
04:00And then, one of these particular nights, we went to a club called Charlie Changs.
04:06Jane went up the bar to get a drink.
04:08And there was this fella there, who I know, was Kevin Doherty.
04:14And she was talking to him.
04:17And I remember she'd come over to me.
04:19She went, Max, that bloke's just brought us a drink.
04:22But unbeknown to me, she'd give him her phone number.
04:27And the next thing I know, she started seeing him.
04:31When she first met Kevin, it was very attentive and made her feel like she was a princess.
04:39And she was besotted with that.
04:43Felt like she was on top of the moon, that she'd met somebody.
04:48Good as gold.
04:49Sharing her with gifts, holidays.
04:53Thought it's made a red turn.
04:55You know what I mean?
05:04Jane used to ring me about 20 times a day.
05:08And this particular day, I wasn't in, but my son Jimmy was.
05:11He's my eldest boy.
05:13And he said, oh, Mum, Jane's just rang.
05:16She's down Wood Green buying clothes because she's going to America.
05:21So I said, lucky cow.
05:24She'd just come back from Portugal not long before.
05:27I didn't even know she was going away again.
05:31And then obviously my son told me.
05:35I was in bed.
05:38It was about 11.30 at night.
05:40My partner comes out.
05:42He said, Maxine, Kevin's on the phone.
05:45He wants you.
05:47So I thought, what's he want?
05:49So I went downstairs, I answered the phone.
05:51He went, Max, is Jane with you?
05:54I said, no, she's not with me.
05:56He said, no, she said she was going out for a drink with her mates.
05:59Straight away, alarm bells went in my head.
06:07He said he dropped Jane off at my mum's house.
06:11My mum was in Ireland and Jane had no keys to get in my mum's house.
06:16So he tried to convince me that he dropped Jane at my mum's house with her bags of shopping that
06:25she bought.
06:26We never told Kevin my mum was in Ireland because that was Jane's getaway.
06:30She'd run to my mum's.
06:32The only problem Jane had, she'd run to my mum's.
06:35My mum was in the corner.
06:36There's one particular thing that doesn't sit right.
06:40And it never, ever will.
06:41Ever.
06:42Ever.
06:43Not in a million years would I believe that she was dropped off outside her mum's house.
06:51There's no way, no way in a million years that she would be dropped outside and not go into her
06:57mother's house.
06:59It just wouldn't happen.
07:01Couldn't sleep all night.
07:04That morning come, Kevin come to my house, eight o'clock in the morning, I'm getting the kids ready for
07:10school.
07:11He said, Max, have you seen her?
07:13I said, you know damn well I ain't seen her.
07:16And if she was out with her mates, she'd have been at my door.
07:19Or she'd have been on my phone because we was just so close.
07:23I knew every move really that Jane done.
07:26There's no way in this world Jane would go out and leave her kids.
07:31Because if we was going out, we would have babysitters.
07:35So when he said she went out for a drink, knowing Ryan's in her flat with the baby, no way.
07:42No way in this world would Jane ever do that.
07:46She wouldn't have left the children for all that time.
07:50Why would she have left Ryan without speaking to him?
07:56And I said to Kevin, she's got till tonight to turn up.
08:01If not, I'm going to the police.
08:09So then I get a phone call from Kevin earlier about five, six o'clock that evening.
08:15He said, oh Max, I've just reported Jane to the police for missing.
08:23More alarm bells.
08:24And this is how this all opens up and went into a now missing person.
08:33So when somebody reports someone missing, obviously you want to look at all the facts that you know.
08:40And it was Kevin that reported Jane missing.
08:43So Jane went missing on the 15th.
08:45Kevin reported it to police on the 16th.
08:47It's very hard when an adult goes missing to assess what level of risk.
08:52Is it, have they just disappeared for the night?
08:54Have they gone somewhere just to catch their breath, reset?
08:57Or are they genuinely missing?
08:59So it's a missing person inquiry.
09:01It's not a criminal inquiry.
09:03On day one, this was a missing person's inquiry.
09:07Now this is not one of the highest priorities that the Metropolitan Police have.
09:10But the officers put in charge had a sense, had a sense that this was something more than just a
09:18missing person.
09:19This could turn out to be something very, very much more serious.
09:26When I did speak to the police, I told him my concerns.
09:30I told him my fears.
09:32I told him that I worried I was about Jane.
09:36Over time, Jane's friends and family see changes in her behaviour.
09:42They was together a couple of years.
09:45And everything was sweet, of course it is, when you're first in a relationship.
09:50But then, you know, little signs, little telltale signs.
09:55She started to change and get a little bit down.
09:58And then she'd be alright.
10:00To see someone so happy and bubbly and bouncy and funny start to sort of change.
10:09But I suppose, you know, she wore a mask, you know.
10:15She could wear a mask and just keep smiling.
10:19But then, obviously, the honeymoon period was over.
10:22I mean, the times the police was called where he was trying to manipulate her.
10:26And if she said, I'm going round to see Max Celia, try and make an excuse to keep her away
10:31from us.
10:32He wanted complete control of Jane.
10:36All that sparkle in her eyes and her laughter was gone.
10:42Over time, cracks start appearing in this relationship.
10:46He was a very nasty person.
10:49Jane was a very bubbly person.
10:50And in the end, that bubble just went.
10:53There was no more laughter.
10:55There was always something.
10:56And me and my sister, Claire, we got on this.
10:59And we used to say to Jane, what's wrong?
11:02But she wouldn't tell us.
11:04She wouldn't tell us.
11:05It's only like, in the end, so as things was going on,
11:09people were telling me the police were at her door.
11:11Where he was hiding her keys.
11:14He took most of her clothes.
11:17She'd end up with one shoe.
11:21I remember one of my last conversations with Jane was, she said that she'd gone home.
11:27And there was literally nothing in the house.
11:31Not even a bottle of tea, the knives, the forks, the spoons.
11:36And she was told that if she was good, she'd get everything back.
11:43Looking back and obviously listening to some of the things she said,
11:49he wanted to make sure that she felt insecure.
11:53You know, started not feeling as good in herself as she used to.
11:59Kevin's methods of abuse were multifaceted.
12:03He would also gaslight Jane, so he would make her question her own sanity.
12:07And he would do this in quite basic, simple ways, such as hiding objects around the house.
12:13He used to follow Jane in the car.
12:15She'd say to me, Max, I'm being followed.
12:17I'm being followed, he's following me.
12:21What he was doing, he was playing mind games with her.
12:24He was trying to let her think she's going mental.
12:27And I used to say to Jane, Jane, you're not going mental.
12:31He's the mental one.
12:32Get away from him.
12:34In front of people, you think, but I walk them out.
12:37But behind closed door, he was an evil.
12:41I called him the monster, because that's what he was.
12:43He was a monster.
12:46With Jane's disappearance completely out of character, fears for her safety are growing.
12:53Everyone knew that there was a big problem, because this was totally, totally out of character.
13:01Totally out of character.
13:03So from day one, they actually put more manpower into this operation than a normal missing person's inquiry.
13:11And that, I think, was a vital indication of just how worried the police were, even on the basic information
13:18they'd been given.
13:18Jane is quite a stable individual. She's not somebody that has a chaotic lifestyle, for example.
13:24So the fact that she goes missing, doesn't contact her own family, and leaves her two children behind.
13:30Something very suspicious about all of this.
13:32Now I know I've got to tell my mother.
13:35My mum was over in Ireland with her sister.
13:38My mum flew back with her sister straight away.
13:41They got a flight straight back to England.
13:44Obviously, my mum's indoors in a terrible state now.
13:48She now knows Jane's been missing for over 24 hours.
13:53Jane's sisters, Claire and Maxine, were immediately distraught and extremely worried as soon as Jane seemed not to be able
14:03to be traced.
14:04And so they immediately got into action and started house-to-house inquiries of their own around people in the
14:11area.
14:12They started a campaign. They had a picture printed on leaflets, on posters which were put up.
14:17They were inexhaustible in their efforts to try to find Jane.
14:24We were approached by Jane's family to produce publicity to try and help find where Jane was.
14:32So we produced a poster appeal and we helped coordinate various media and try and get the appeal out as
14:41widely as possible to get information to find where Jane was.
14:46We'd done press conferences, I had Jane's baby with me, you know, trying to melt someone's heartstrings, thinking if someone
14:55knows something, please come forward, we're begging you, you know.
14:59I'd get upset.
15:03But I think...
15:11So we know that on the day of her disappearance, on the 15th of June 1995, Jane and Kevin went
15:19to Woodgreen Shopping Centre.
15:20We see them arriving on CCTV, we see them in the shopping centre on CCTV.
15:26The police set up a huge search across North London, but all they had to go on was the CCTV
15:35that they seized from the Woodgreen Shopping Centre, which they then released to the press.
15:40And there were these haunting images in grainy, blurry CCTV out of focus.
15:49But you could see two figures very clearly.
15:53The original investigating team actually had a reconstruction at Woodgreen Shopping Centre using Maxine, who looked similar to Jane, playing
16:03the part of Jane, which I can only imagine how challenging that would have been for Maxine.
16:07Um, because we wanted to try and see whether we could elicit any witnesses who'd seen them, recognised them.
16:16I can tell you it was the most hardest thing to do, a walk in her shoes.
16:21But, you know, we did think something would come out of it, because Jane was quite stunning.
16:27Jane was very attractive, she was beautiful looking, she was quite stunning, and yet, nothing.
16:34Nothing.
16:35It was as if she disappeared from the face of the earth.
16:40While the missing person's inquiry continues, Kevin Doherty's behaviour is raising suspicions.
16:47As the days went by, and still no sign of Jane, it became more apparent what was the true nature
16:55of the relationship between Jane and Kevin Doherty.
16:58And it was clear that although it was a three-year relationship, one that was very off and on, but
17:05it was very volatile.
17:06In fact, worse than volatile, there was evidence very much that Doherty hit Jane, in the street, in the open.
17:14It was a clear sign of abuse.
17:19Clearly a man of a short temper and a controlling nature.
17:22Jane herself apparently did not want to make an issue of this, she did not want to report it to
17:27the police.
17:27She wanted to maintain the relationship in the hope and the dream that they could establish a nice family unit
17:34together.
17:35So she ignored it.
17:38To lead a double life, to literally be living in two worlds, living and raising two families, takes an extra
17:46layer of conniving and conning.
17:48It became evident to the inquiry team, the original inquiry team, that Kevin's behaviour, his relationship with Jane, the abuse
18:03that he put Jane under, his mysterious life, his two lives.
18:08This was not a man of integrity. This was a man who had many hidden tales about his life that
18:16others didn't know.
18:17And therefore, when you overlay what we already know, and the fact that Jane, without any recourse to anyone, has
18:29now disappeared, Kevin becomes a very interesting character for the original investigation team.
18:38With clear suspicions about Doherty, the police bring him in and question him.
18:43It's very hard to pin Kevin down on anything. He was very non-committal to anything, very vague in whatever
18:52he told people.
18:54So, again, it just added to the intrigue of what part of you played in this, Kevin? What part of
19:01you played in the disappearance of Jane?
19:11Doherty told police that on the day of Jane's disappearance, he received two phone calls from her at home, and
19:17he was actually witness answering the phone, and he seemed nervous, he seemed flustered.
19:21He was apparently arguing with her, demanding that she came home.
19:25He picked up the phone, and he went, all right, Jane, where are you? When are you coming home?
19:31He then said she'd gone to the pub, and it was from the pub that she was making phone calls,
19:36and they were the phone calls he apparently received in front of Jane's older son, and also the babysitter.
19:45And then he said Jane wasn't returning home, she had gone off with another man.
19:54And that was the vagueness of his story.
19:56She was a beautiful-looking girl, and there was many people that would be attracted to her.
20:03You know, she didn't want that. She wanted a life with a family. She wanted a happy home.
20:11So for someone to say that she'd gone with someone else, that's, nah, it wouldn't have happened. Just wouldn't have
20:22happened.
20:24But Kevin Doherty changed his behaviour towards Jane for the better, booking a holiday to Florida to help make amends.
20:32It was obvious Jane did actually love Kevin, and as in a lot of these cases, she believed that things
20:40would change.
20:41She believed that the Florida holiday was a key turning point in their relationship.
20:47He was making an effort, things were going to change, he was going to take her on holiday.
20:50The police's suspicions about Kevin Doherty hit an absolute peak when they found out that the holiday that was planned
20:59in Florida,
21:00that they were going to fly out two days after the shopping trip, the holiday that Jane was so looking
21:05forward to,
21:06was so excited by, was a complete sham.
21:09The ruse of the holiday, um, obviously became a key line of inquiry.
21:14Yes, the holiday had been booked, it hadn't been paid for, not only had it not been paid for, it
21:21had actually been cancelled.
21:22All by Kevin.
21:26The search intensified, uh, for Jane.
21:29More and more witnesses were coming forward, uh, with information, including a, a vital witness,
21:35who was a neighbour, who on the morning that Jane disappeared, saw Jane and Doherty arguing in the street.
21:43And what's more, this neighbour saw Doherty hit Jane.
21:51He knew what he was doing, you know what I mean, because obviously he wasn't a good man.
21:57I think, like, he was scared that she was going to say something or do something.
22:03So I know, and because she wanted to leave him, I think he got scared.
22:10Investigators now strongly believe that Kevin Doherty is responsible for Jane Harrison's disappearance
22:17from Wood Green Shopping Centre.
22:21We see them arriving on CCTV.
22:24We see them in the shopping centre on CCTV.
22:27We don't see them leaving.
22:29And this is where we believe something's occurred,
22:33and this is where the confrontation may have taken place.
22:36You make a decision.
22:37I believe that Jane is no longer alive, therefore this is no longer a missing person inquiry.
22:45This is actually a murder inquiry.
22:47So when that decision was made, Kevin was arrested.
22:53When the police decided to make a move on Doherty and they arrested him, initially on the charge of abduction,
23:02in interviews he was perfectly happy to talk to them, albeit in a very indirect fashion.
23:09He wouldn't answer their questions directly.
23:10He looked often and was clearly not out to help them.
23:15When Kevin was questioned by the police, he was apparently quite frustrating for them to talk to.
23:20He was a bit disjointed.
23:21He was denying everything.
23:23Doherty told the police that he had driven, yes, he had driven Jane from her home to the shopping centre.
23:31Yes, they'd had a row in the street, but they'd made up.
23:36He then took her back and dropped her in the Stoke Newington area, he says, because she wanted to see
23:43her mother.
23:44Well, the police knew by this time that this was a howling lie.
23:47Then, of course, he described the two phone calls he alleged to have received
23:52and his alleged expedition round the local pubs to see if he could find her.
23:58He then offered his own explanation again, that he thought that Jane must have run off with some other man.
24:03Um, identity unknown.
24:06It was, um, to say that it didn't answer any questions would be an understatement.
24:12This was a statement from a very suspicious suspect.
24:18He maintained the same story and the same alibi, that it couldn't have been him.
24:24He was out and about looking for Jane.
24:26People saw him having phone calls at home from Jane.
24:29So he maintained that Jane had run off with another man.
24:34Kevin stuck to his guns.
24:35And we had nothing that we could actually challenge him on his account.
24:40His account wasn't that convincing.
24:44But we work in a world of evidence.
24:46And it's about proof, not truth.
24:49What can we prove?
24:50What can we show if we go to a court?
24:53We can prove this is happening.
24:55We can prove that hasn't happened.
24:57We can prove that his account doesn't match up.
24:59In 1995, we couldn't do that.
25:02So I think the senior investigating officer knew that Kevin had been involved in Jane's disappearance.
25:09But knowing, believing and having evidence are very different things.
25:15Despite the suspicions, the very grave suspicions the police had, they didn't have enough evidence to charge Kevin Doherty.
25:24And to their great disappointment and the great frustration of the family, the police had to release Doherty without charge.
25:32The original senior investigating officer reluctantly released Kevin.
25:37I think it's telling.
25:38They weren't looking for anyone else for Jane's homicide.
25:42They had someone clearly in their sights.
25:45The fact is, it's about proving it, not what we believe or what we think.
25:51This is about proving it.
25:53There wasn't that proof.
25:54The CPS refused to charge Kevin because they simply don't have enough evidence.
25:58And then Kevin just moves on with his life.
26:00So he returns back to his wife and his previous family.
26:03He even rejects Taylor, the one-year-old son that he'd had with Jane.
26:07The minute Jane went missing, we lost all contact with Kevin.
26:12It's as if, like, we never existed and my Jane never existed.
26:17That's what he thought we was going to go away.
26:20The police worked constantly, absolutely constantly on Jane.
26:25They went, anything they needed to do or could be done, they done it.
26:30But obviously, you can't have the police 24 hours working for you.
26:35So as months and months went by, there was no, there was no, the police couldn't go no further.
26:46By September, they had nowhere else to go.
26:50The leads had all gone cold, the operation had to be wound down.
26:54And it was a terrible moment when the police had to go to the family and say,
27:00I'm terribly sorry, we've done our best.
27:02But there's no further hope of solving this crime at the moment.
27:09After an exhaustive investigation, detectives hit a brick wall.
27:14And without further evidence, the case goes cold.
27:17But Jane's family tried desperately to keep the case alive.
27:25A police investigation might go cold or it might be inactive, which means the police don't have anything else they
27:31can do.
27:32We won't then close an appeal because it could be that a bit of information that's given to us could
27:37then change that situation.
27:40So it's important to keep missing cases alive and just think that just because nothing's actively being done, it doesn't
27:47mean that that person still can't be found.
27:49We can only imagine the emotional turmoil for Jane's family.
27:53Not only has their beloved one gone missing, but they literally don't know what's happened to her.
27:57So the uncertainty must be killing them.
27:59And on top of that, you've got this poor little boy who's growing up without both of his parents because
28:04his own father has turned his back on him.
28:06There's never a day that goes by that we don't think, you know, will they find her, but we just
28:12have to wait and see.
28:15We won't let up. I won't. I've got breath in me. I'll never stop hoping to find Jane.
28:21There's nothing worse knowing everything you've done and you've still got a sister missing.
28:29Over the years, we've been in touch with Maxine for various different things, talking about updates, being there to hear
28:36what's going on, give them practical advice, get ideas from them about what to do with publicity, try different things,
28:44support them through doing different appeals and different things in the media.
28:48Maxine and Claire were absolute stalwarts at this time. It was enormously, to their credit, just the lengths they went
28:57to, to try and find their sister and try and find justice for their sister.
29:05I look back on it and I think, sort of, God, how did I do it? You know, my kids,
29:11I tried to give them the best, you know what I mean, but they had to witness us going through
29:17depression, crying. It was just absolutely horrendous.
29:22Horrendous.
29:23Maxine made it her goal that she would find her sister. Maxine and Claire, you know, I take everything that
29:35is inside me for them girls. The heartache they had to go through, the wanting to shut down, shut the
29:43door and stay in bed.
29:45They didn't. They didn't. Every day they got up, every day they fought for Jane. Every day they made it
29:53their campaign to find out where she was. It broke my heart when I'm...
30:00In 2010, technological advances open up a wealth of new evidence to investigators. And Jane's case is reviewed.
30:12One of the things Kevin could never foresee is the advancement in digital forensics.
30:18Most cold case reviews come about because of new evidence available in forensic science. This case was different.
30:28What provided the new evidence in the Jane Harrison case was mobile phones, cell-sighted evidence and the investigation, the
30:39searches that could go ahead into even the old mobile phones from the mid-1990s.
30:45The police still had all his phone and research they could get off the phones, but now they could subject
30:53it to the real interrogation of modern day techniques. And they found devastating new evidence.
31:02We used something called cell-sight analysis, which can pinpoint a general area where the phone calls were being made.
31:08We were able to establish that the accounts that had originally been given by Doherty, bearing in mind they were
31:16very vague accounts, but they were accounts and they did pin him to places.
31:20We were able to actually challenge them with fact-based evidence. And that, in my mind, was where his downfall
31:30started.
31:30Police were always suspicious of Doherty, but their biggest hurdle was these two phone calls that had been made to
31:38the home phone and Doherty had answered these and this had been witnessed.
31:41But, technology has moved on and 15 years later we actually find out that Doherty has made these phone calls
31:47himself for his mobile.
31:48He also said that later in the evening he was driving around the Hoxton area to pubs in the Hoxton
31:54area looking for Jane.
31:55What we were able to do was sight him near to one of his lock-ups.
31:59I don't know, but I reasonably believe this is probably where he has taken the opportunity to dispose of Jane's
32:09body.
32:10Doherty had built his defence on the two telephone calls he claimed that he'd received on the afternoon Jane disappeared,
32:19while he was in Jane's flat, with Jane speaking to him in his version.
32:24The new evidence blew that alibi straight out of the water. Not only that, but when he then said that
32:30he was going off to look around local pubs to search for her, that was a lie as well.
32:37This was absolutely brilliant breakthrough evidence and suddenly the police had a case against Kevin Doherty.
32:47Finally, investigators have the evidence to prove Doherty had lied.
32:51They once again arrest him and CPS agreed to charge. This is a huge step forward, especially as this is
33:00a nobody murder case.
33:01The cold case review started in 2010 and within two years, the police were in position to arrest Kevin Doherty
33:10in 2012, some 17 years after Jane had gone missing.
33:16And it was the best news. We won the lottery when the police come round and said that they'd finally
33:24arrested him.
33:25When Kevin was interviewed, following his arrest for murder, again, he was allowed an opportunity to provide an account.
33:33And he spoke openly and he stuck to the story that Jane was still alive, she'd run off with someone
33:38else.
33:39However, when the phone evidence was put to him, along with the timings of everything, he saw his alibi starting
33:48to unwind a little bit.
33:50He decided he would go no comment from then on and he never spoke to police because we could now
33:56actually challenge his accounts with fact.
34:00Doherty doesn't say much to the police. He gives a no comment interview.
34:04Of course, we can't really garner much from his inner thoughts just by that because that could have simply been
34:11legal advice from his team.
34:13However, I imagine that in his situation, he must have been feeling very anxious, very perturbed, very nervous because he
34:19knows that the walls are closing in.
34:21The police and the prosecutors were confident, but only up to a certain extent.
34:28They knew just how difficult it is to prove a murder case when there is nobody.
34:33They still had a strong circumstantial case.
34:37They could prove a Doherty's double life, his abusive behaviour towards Jane in their relationship and his endless stream of
34:47lies.
34:48And that would amount to, they hoped in the eyes of the jury, a guilty verdict.
35:00The trial opened at the L Bailey, which of course is the most famous criminal court in the world.
35:06In January in 2013, we were agog amongst the media to hear what the new evidence would be and how
35:14a man could be brought to court for a murder 17 years after this murder had allegedly been committed.
35:20We were all very aware just how difficult it is to win a murder case with no body.
35:29Then the evidence that was presented to the court, it was circumstantial evidence.
35:33And it basically relied on what people had seen in respect of the neighbour with the fight.
35:41Jane's oldest son describing Kevin's behaviour on the night of his mum's disappearance.
35:47Babysitter describing Kevin's behaviour on the night of the disappearance.
35:51The fact that Kevin was making phone calls from his own phone to the home phone, reporting to be Jane.
35:58The defence really kept a low profile, it could be said.
36:02All they tried to do was just muddy the case or the prosecution case, but they emphasised that nobody knew
36:09what had happened.
36:11Nobody could say for sure what had happened and whether there was any intent in what Docherty had done at
36:20all.
36:20And those, unfortunately, were the major strands of the defence which played strongly with the jury.
36:27During the trial, Docherty said almost nothing. In fact, he didn't even give evidence.
36:32He sat in that call, large as life, going through paperwork.
36:38We all give evidence against him, and he didn't flinch.
36:42But here, we're getting interrogated, and he is sitting there right opposite me in the dock, looking at me.
36:52And I must admit, I never took my eyes off of him. I stared at him all through, giving my
36:58evidence.
36:58The defence legal team clearly decided that it was way too dangerous to allow Docherty to give evidence on his
37:06own behalf.
37:07It would open him up to cross-examination, which would expose every flaw and magnify them.
37:13Putting all this circumstantial evidence to the court, and the fact that Kevin didn't give evidence in the court,
37:19it was a powerful case.
37:21But obviously, the jury had to make a decision as to whether they saw this as a murder case, a
37:29manslaughter case,
37:30or whether they actually believed Kevin's accounts were recently given to police, that there was no case for Kevin to
37:36answer.
37:36The trial only lasted three weeks, but the jury were out for more than four days,
37:42which shows clearly how they were split between the arguments they had about the charges.
37:49When the jury came back, it was extremely tense in the court,
37:54and I could see Jane's family and her sisters holding hands tightly.
38:01Before the verdict came in, and we got called back to go in,
38:06I was sitting with my sister and her son, when I tell you our knuckles was white,
38:11we was terrified that he was going to walk in.
38:14We was literally petrified.
38:18Sorry.
38:21It was just hard.
38:25The jury could not be sure that he intended to plan a murder,
38:30or that it was just a spontaneous moment and he struck out and killed.
38:35It's speculation.
38:36And on that basis, they could not be sure of a murder conviction.
38:41They had to return a manslaughter conviction.
38:47I would say the reason they came back with the manslaughter finding is without Jane's body,
38:55they weren't convinced that Kevin, though responsible for Jane's death,
39:00had the intent to either seriously hurt Jane or kill Jane.
39:04If the jury had convicted Doherty of murder, he would be sentenced to a mandatory life term.
39:14In these circumstances, the judge could not impose that sentence,
39:17so he imposed a finite sentence of 12 years.
39:22And under the law, Doherty would only serve six years,
39:25half a sentence behind bars, and the rest on licence.
39:28So Kevin got 12 years imprisonment, of which he served six,
39:35and he was released on licence in 2017.
39:42I mean, how the hell can you take someone's life,
39:46a mother of two small beautiful children, and get 12 years, and do six?
39:53Where's our rights? Where's my sister's rights?
39:57She's not here to speak, but we are.
40:00And we will keep speaking, and we'll keep doing.
40:04That man's going to regret whatever he'd done to my sister.
40:07Me and Clay will not stop till we get some proper justice.
40:13From the perspective of the family,
40:14there must have been this sense of a lack of justice,
40:17knowing that Doherty only got a manslaughter charge rather than murder.
40:20And also a lack of closure, because the body was never found,
40:23so they never really know for definite what happened to Jane.
40:29Another tragic moment in this terribly tragic tale
40:32was that Jane's mother, Phyllis, died before she even knew
40:36that Doherty was going to be re-arrested and brought to justice.
40:42While Jane's sisters, Claire and Maxine, were angry,
40:46and rightly so, with the sentence,
40:49they at least knew that some sort of justice had been done for their sister,
40:53and sadly that was a comfort that was not available for Phyllis.
41:01He has let that poor family suffer every day since the 15th of June 1995.
41:07And to think he got six years, and he's walking the streets,
41:12and us as a family, we're in bits even to this day.
41:17You know what I mean? It's every day.
41:20I mean, again, to their amazing credit, the sisters wouldn't give up,
41:25and they still carried on a campaign to try and find some evidence
41:31or some lead to lead them to Jane's whereabouts.
41:35We've done every appeal. We've kept Jane going since 1995.
41:40You know, we will never, ever let go of Jane
41:44till we get some kind of justice.
41:48Jane's family have been incredibly active,
41:51and then subsequently campaigning for Helen's Law to be implemented
41:54so that actually somebody can't come out on parole
41:58if they haven't yet given information about the whereabouts of their victim.
42:03Always looking at an opportunity to get justice for the family.
42:07My little part now is keeping the Jane Harrison story alive
42:11and promoting the fact that her body's never been found.
42:16And for the sake of the sisters, for her sons,
42:21trying to identify where she is.
42:25If we find Jane's body, bodies can tell a story.
42:29And Jane's body will probably tell us what happened to her
42:33and how it happened and why she died.
42:38It's not in Kevin Doherty's interest to reveal that to us.
42:42I know from that day to this day,
42:44we're not going to find my sister,
42:46because whatever he'd done, he'd done proper.
42:50You know what I mean?
42:51If we haven't found her after all these years,
42:54I know we're not, but I'd give anything to find her.
42:57Of course I would.
42:59That would be glad to rest.
43:01But he ain't giving us that.
43:03Our job isn't done.
43:05We have to carry on being there to try and help the family
43:09get those answers and support them
43:10whilst they are still trying to get them.
43:13We are no better today than we was in 1995.
43:18We're still the same. We're still grieving.
43:20We've got no closure.
43:22If anyone can hate someone, I hate that man for vengeance.
43:26And I wish the worst for him.
43:32He broke us and that's what he wanted.
43:35He wanted to destroy Jane and he wanted to destroy us.
43:39And by God, he did.
43:41A heartache is never going to go.
43:43It will never go.
43:45You know, every day it's here.
43:49All I can say is,
43:52for Jane saying, for her children's sake,
43:56hopefully one day,
43:58I don't know how long that's going to be,
43:59but one day we will get closure
44:02and we can finally, finally lay our sister to rest.
44:34A voice of the rest,
44:35is all alone to love,
44:35is all alone to all the rest.
44:37The first time we have to take over the years,
44:37It's all alone to all the rest.
44:52We're all alone to the first place.
44:53the future of it is a kind of an interesting place.
44:54We play together this little place.
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