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00:01Every 90 seconds, someone is reported missing.
00:06Many return to their families.
00:09For others, something has gone seriously wrong.
00:13I was in the newsroom and I was told that a young boy had gone missing.
00:18A seven-year-old boy, quite a sensitive, vulnerable little boy.
00:23What happens in the police investigation that follows?
00:26The CCTV in the area was non-existent, so we relied on traditional inquiries,
00:32talking to members of the family.
00:34And then we managed to get a trace on the number,
00:37and it came to a phone box on a platform at Bolton Central Railway Station.
00:41What happens to the family at its heart?
00:44It broke my dad completely, broke him to pieces.
00:48When missing, it turns to murder.
00:56What happens to the family?
00:57What happens to the family?
00:58What happens to the family?
01:04Me and Ryan, we have the same father but different mothers.
01:08And we used to go on a weekend to my nana's and that's where I'd see Ryan.
01:13We was always excited to see each other.
01:16We used to go to a big park where it had like a big lake to feed the ducks.
01:21And me and Ryan used to love that.
01:24A very quiet, sensitive little boy and also a little boy with a slight stammer
01:30who was very, very close to his mum, barely left his mum's side.
01:35He was always like a big ball of energy.
01:39There was never a time where he was down or never crying.
01:43He always made himself smile in front of me.
01:47He spent a lot of time with both his mum, his grandparents, his siblings and his dad.
01:53A really lovely, well-known family and this was a really lovely little boy.
01:59He was very caring.
02:01If there was a spider on the floor, he would not kill that spider.
02:04He would let the spider crawl off.
02:07Where me, I'm trying to stamp on it, trying to kill it off.
02:11Ryan was loving to anyone that come across to him.
02:16Always friendly, always wanting to make friends.
02:20Ryan often spends weekends staying with his grandparents.
02:24But much of the time, he lives with his mum, Lynn.
02:28And it's here Ryan gets to know his mum's new partner,
02:3223-year-old Ronald Mariner.
02:36Ryan said he was the nicest person ever.
02:38Never did anything wrong to him or anything like that.
02:41He was just so caring and kind.
02:44Ryan used to come and tell me that he was a really good uncle figure.
02:48He used to play video games with him and stuff like that.
02:51And used to take him out a lot.
02:54Just spend time with him, really.
02:56Chloe was young when Ryan went missing.
02:58It wasn't until she was much older that her dad shared with her what actually happened.
03:05My dad never kept anything away from me.
03:07He always told me what had happened, what went on and stuff like that.
03:12He never kept anything from me.
03:15I had always known the truth about what happened that day.
03:22Ryan lived with his mum and his sister in a three-bed council house.
03:27Ryan actually woke his mum up about five o'clock in the morning.
03:34And said, can I go downstairs and play with Uncle Ronnie?
03:38She agreed.
03:40They started playing a video game.
03:42It's not unusual for mum Lynn to allow this, as her boyfriend Mariner has bonded well with her son.
03:48And they frequently play video games at all hours.
03:55When she woke up in the morning, they were both missing.
03:59She found a window slightly open.
04:02The note in the room, the note said he'd taken Ryan out.
04:09The front window's open.
04:11That must have been their method of exit because she was a bit security conscious and she mortis locked the
04:17front and back doors.
04:18So she suspects they've gone out the window.
04:23I don't think she was concerned initially.
04:25I think it was perfectly acceptable that they could have gone off to the shops or for a walk.
04:31I don't know what, I think they play football together.
04:35Because Ryan and Ronnie were close, it wasn't unusual, the fact that they'd gone out together.
04:48But as the hours go by, she gets concerned.
05:00Before Ryan was reported missing, his sister bumped into Mariner in Bolton Town Centre.
05:05Obviously, she was very concerned that Ryan wasn't with him and she's asked him where Ryan is.
05:10And she challenged him and asked him where Ryan was.
05:13And he said that he'd taken him to grandma.
05:17He gave some story she wasn't happy with, you know.
05:20We're not talking about a detective, we're talking about a girl who I think was 15.
05:23She wasn't happy with his story and she read that to mum.
05:28It was after that.
05:32They contacted the police and reported him missing from home.
05:36I was on duty in Bolton, CRD.
05:40I was sending at the address.
05:41I was met by a lady by name, Wibbley Mason.
05:46She went on to explain to me that during the course of the day, she tried to make contact with
05:50Mariner with no real joy.
05:54What a lot of people don't realise is so many kids are reported missing.
05:58They're actually found in the house.
06:00If they have basements in basements, they hide in cupboards.
06:03All sorts.
06:05And they think it's a bit of a game and then they fall asleep.
06:10I didn't visually loot.
06:13Did not see anything I missed.
06:15It's normal practice to search the house to see if the boy could be hiding there somewhere.
06:20He also looked at anything else that may suggest that there had been any kind of criminal activity.
06:26There was nothing, no evidence of that.
06:31I called in a couple of other detectives to me would inform staff.
06:35We had a look at the information.
06:36From my point of view, it was a high risk issue.
06:42We were worried about the fact that Mariner hadn't been seen all day with a child.
06:47And a lot of uniform officers were initially told about the incident and then they started searching open places, bus
06:54stations, the railway station.
06:58But at that particular time, we had no evidence to suggest that Ryan had been harmed.
07:04I was in the newsroom and I was told that a young boy had gone missing.
07:09That was a really big story for us.
07:11A seven year old boy, which we were told was quite a sensitive, a vulnerable little boy.
07:18Back in 2002, they wouldn't have had social media, so local newspapers would have been doing the story.
07:25And at that stage, with a missing child, you're always hoping there could be an easy explanation, an innocent explanation
07:33and that there was hope that the child would be found.
07:38So the police looking, keeping an open mind would have been focusing on Ryan's mum and the boyfriend and other
07:46family members, the grandparents and Ryan's dad to see what connection, what they knew, had they any information about his
07:54whereabouts.
07:59When I got there, it was a relation of Lynne Mason's at the house and she was very welcoming.
08:05I think they were glad to see somebody from the police really come into the house to basically tell them
08:11some information or set their minds at rest.
08:15And they have 101 questions they want to ask.
08:18And we just have to go through it methodically and talk about it.
08:23And in amongst all that, you've got tears, you know, because it's somebody's son.
08:32And we were learning more about Ryan.
08:35We were talking to friends and neighbours and also his school teachers, classmates had given the information that not only
08:43was Ryan really a quiet, sensitive little boy, he didn't like animals being hurt.
08:50He got very concerned if an insect or animals were hurt and had described them as all God's creatures.
09:04Pursuing all leads, Detective Brett Ross decides to do background checks on Mariner.
09:10I went back to the police station and had a look at what we knew about Mariner by the intelligence
09:16system.
09:16And what I found out was that Mariner had a history of violence to children.
09:22And I immediately became concerned.
09:26Not only has he attacked an 11-year-old boy and left him injured at a golf course, he'd actually
09:33assaulted his own baby son, leaving him with a broken arm.
09:38It's not the sort of thing that you expect to turn a page and find.
09:44It was like a slap in the face to see what he'd done previously.
09:48Within a few hours, we realised the possible dangers and of course the priorities always to try and get the
09:54young'uns back.
09:55We're pushing all the buttons that we could.
09:59So here we are. Ryan lives down there with his mum and his sister.
10:03It's a busy area, there's kids playing down the street.
10:06All these houses you see around here would have been knocked on as part of the house-to-house enquiries.
10:10Those enquiries were negative, unfortunately.
10:13So when Ryan was missing, my dad, he was upset and you can tell something was bothering him.
10:19The CCTV in the area was non-existent, so we relied on traditional enquiries, talking to members of the family.
10:26This was difficult with Mariner because nobody really knew him that well.
10:31Didn't have much to go on other than the family in Lancashire, but nobody had any real idea where he
10:37could go.
10:52The police get an early breakthrough when a previous girlfriend of Ronald Mariner contacts them.
10:59We came across a witness whose evidence was very valuable because they thought they'd seen Ronnie pushing a wheelie bin
11:05through the estate.
11:07He was crossing the street, pushing the wheelie bin in the direction of, clearly he was found with a golf
11:13flop.
11:14And nobody else had seen him.
11:16That would be 4 or 5 a.m.
11:20He'd been missing for over 12 hours by that time.
11:25I was just shocked that no one, like, reported it. Like, even if it's to the police saying, I know
11:30it's like a weird thing to ring up for, but there's a guy here wheeling a wheelie bin at this
11:37time in the morning down the high street.
11:42Well, this was the gate of the police station. It was Bolton Central. It was the headquarters of Bolton Borough
11:48Police.
11:48We ran the operation from here. It was efficient, it was self-contained and, of course, inquiries could be conducted
11:55from here quite easily.
11:57From this incident room, one way of tracing Mariner would be through a mobile phone.
12:04But there's a problem.
12:07It's difficult to put it in perspective because this is 2002.
12:11Everybody had a mobile phone. Mariner didn't.
12:13That's one of the best ways to track someone is a mobile phone. We didn't have that.
12:17She had a mobile and she said that although they had finished the relationship, he would still contact her on
12:25a regular basis and he would ring up from public call boxes.
12:30I directed the detective to seize the mobile and got feeling that that mobile might ring and he might be
12:40the caller and we might be able to get his location from this.
12:58So about half past four the following morning, the seizing of the phone proves a good idea because it pings
13:04and Mariner's left a voice message.
13:07He's told his ex that he's leaving Bolton and, of course, he hasn't got a car so his options are
13:13limited.
13:17This fact alone obviously created further alarm bells.
13:21Why would a man want to leave Bolton when he's supposed to have custody of a seven-year-old child?
13:27And then we managed to get a trace on the number and it came to a phone box on a
13:31platform at Bolton Central Railway Station.
13:34No trains at that time, which was handy. Uniform were dispatched immediately and he was arrested on a platform at
13:40Bolton Central Railway Station.
13:50So, if he's not done it, then why is he trying to flee the country?
13:59And then I go to Bolton Central.
14:02Detective Sergeant came and I asked him to conduct a quick interview with Mariner.
14:08The interview strategy was to ask him a simple question, where Ryan is and in his whereabouts, so we could
14:14find him.
14:16To interview Mariner and to establish that he goes no comment can only raise your suspicions even higher.
14:23If there's no harm left to the child, then why not comment? Why not tell us where he is?
14:27He's perfectly entitled to do this legally, of course, so we can't put any pressure on him because he's represented
14:33by a solicitor.
14:37You keep an open mind because you don't actually know, OK, they might be arresting someone or they've got a
14:44suspect, but you don't know.
14:47Even the SIO doesn't know 100% that that person that they think has done it has done it.
14:53That has to go through its due process.
14:57He continued to be uncooperative and in view of the window being left open and the door being locked and
15:03him not being cooperative.
15:05Why is that? Why is that telling us where Ryan is?
15:07I told the family that he'd been arrested and there was a great sigh of relief, really, the fact that
15:13the police had got him and it was another step in the right direction.
15:18I was getting the picture that Lynn had had Ronnie in her life on and off for quite some time.
15:25But Lynn was a very complex person and was not coping very well at that time when Ronnie was in
15:33her life.
15:34And I got the impression that Ronnie was using Lynn to stay at the house every once in a while
15:41when he wanted to and come in and sort of bring sweets for the kids and stuff as a guise
15:46just to be there.
15:49We weren't looking for anybody else really because Brian had gone missing with Mariner and we, of course, then knew
15:56about Mariner's sadism and violence towards kids.
16:00We had him in custody. He was evasive. There really wasn't anybody else to look for.
16:05In any investigation where the suspect gives an all-coming interview, you have to ensure that the evidence that's collected
16:12is enough to provide a safe chance of a prosecution.
16:15And the only evidence that was going to come was going to come from a forensic examination.
16:22The arrest of Mariner and his unwillingness to cooperate immediately triggers a full forensic search of the house where he
16:30and Ryan were last seen together.
16:32So we saw the activity at the house, the very familiar tents that are erected outside, which shows that the
16:42police are looking at something extremely sinister, criminal activity.
16:46The forensic teams going in, scouring, looking intently for information because Ryan was still missing, but looking for any DNA,
16:58any blood, any weapons and trying to build a picture up of what was happening at the house.
17:07On the circumstances where the front door and the back door were locked and the window was open and the
17:12suspicion that they'd have gone out via the window.
17:16During the search, we found a kitchen knife down the settee, obviously not what you'd expect to find.
17:22And we found a hammer upstairs, again, not in the place we expected to find it.
17:26It's really not looking good, and we are seriously worried about Ryan.
17:32These key items, along with the rest of the house, are immediately examined for any forensic evidence.
17:40Fingerprints of Mariner were found on the hammer and the knife.
17:44And there was also traces of blood on the window that they would have exited through because the doors were
17:49locked.
17:51Unfortunately, because Mariner was a regular visitor to the house, this could be explained away by, you know, he cooks
17:57in the kitchen or he's done a job for Lynn with the hammer.
18:00The blood could have occurred at any time, so although it was helpful, it wasn't conclusive.
18:10The response from the forensic investigation, they established that crime violence may have been committed within that property.
18:17Afterwards, local searches were established.
18:23Detectives theorised that Ryan could have come to serious harm or worse inside his own home, before he vanished.
18:31There was police dogs on ground, people looking for him.
18:35And there were some officers in Bolton town centre.
18:41Police widened their search for Ryan after more details of Mariner's previous convictions come to light.
18:47When the further details of his offence when he was 15 came out, it transpired, he grabbed an 11-year
18:53-old kid.
18:54We don't know why.
18:56But he took him to the golf course, stripped him naked and beat him up.
19:05Very, very strange offence.
19:07And when we found out, we knew we were dealing with someone who had a strange mindset, to say the
19:12least.
19:13We decided to look at the golf course when we heard about his previous assault on the 11-year-old
19:19kid.
19:20This was a huge search. It's an 18-hole golf course.
19:24We had all the assets that GMP had at the time.
19:28We had the helicopter up in the air.
19:30We had dogs and we even had an underwater search unit for the water hazards that we knew were here.
19:36Ryan's house was 400 or 500 metres from the open land, which leads to the golf course.
19:42Mariner's still at custody, not being helpful.
19:44We're doing everything we can in terms of the neighbourhood, but obviously all to no avail.
19:51He was described by neighbours as strange.
19:55Not everyone warmed to him.
19:57This picture emerging of him as someone who was angry, violent, disturbed, he didn't fit in.
20:05And he seemed to take his anger out on children.
20:09He spent a lot of time, we understood, spending time with children, telling them lies, trying to act big in
20:16their company.
20:17Serving time, 18 months in a young offenders institution because of the torture and the pain he inflicted on a
20:26defences baby.
20:28And then he'd come out of prison and he couldn't find a job and he spent a lot of time
20:33just watching very violent video games.
20:38Then we started to arrange a detailed search of the golf course.
20:42Golf courses have things like bunkers and water traps.
20:45And we got help from the underwater search unit.
20:52Then we were told there was going to be a police press conference, an appeal for information.
20:57That's when we hear from family members, we hear all of the last details.
21:01We get a little bit more information, building up a picture to try and tell our viewers what was happening.
21:07And that would have been an appeal for information, anyone who could help find Ryan.
21:13We're not narrowing it down at this point to, have you seen Ryan with Mariner?
21:18We're saying, have you seen Ryan? Have you seen Ryan on his own?
21:21Have you seen him with a man? Have you seen him with a woman?
21:23We're not trying to get people to focus on our suspect.
21:28We're hoping Mariner's taken him somewhere and left him with someone.
21:32That was still our hope at that time.
21:38We were just about to launch the press conference, which at the time was an appeal for Ryan.
21:43We've got his photograph, we've got the story, we've got his description all ready for the press.
21:51And then we got the tragic news that a body had been found.
21:58Ryan was found. His body was still in the bin bag. And it was by a lake. And it was
22:06two dog walkers that actually found him on the golf course.
22:15We were told his body had been wrapped up in bin bags and that traumatic, terrible discovery and confirmation that
22:24this was a really, really sad, sad case.
22:30It was identified quickly that it was Ryan's body. There was nobody else missing in the Great Manchester Police area
22:37of that age.
22:40The recovery of Ryan's body had to be done very carefully, sensitively, not just because he's a poor little victim,
22:47but because of the forensic value of the body and the bag.
22:53The forensic team were able to identify him from a photograph.
22:59And Ryan went off to the mortuary to await his post-mortem examination.
23:21When you're investigating the death of a young child, the only way you can deal with it is to ensure
23:28that you do your job properly.
23:30You collect every bit of evidence to ensure it's watertight.
23:34With the body being found on public ground and the possible murder scene in a different location, it throws up
23:42challenges for investigators.
23:43We have a lot of water around. We have a lot of disturbing of the environment by dog walkers, golfers,
23:51obviously, it's a golf course.
23:53Difficult scenes made worse by the weather. Cold weather really makes for a difficult crime scene.
24:00And of course, the fact that it's in water makes it really difficult.
24:04There wasn't a huge amount of blood at the scene.
24:09Because the hypothesis was that he would have been dead at the time.
24:13Clearly, we've got the house, which is what we call the main scene.
24:18The deposition site, where Ryan was found. That's a crime scene.
24:22We found the wheelie bin nearby. The wheelie bin, believe it or not, is a crime scene.
24:27It's one of the few bits of helpful forensic that couldn't be explained away.
24:31So much could be explained away, you know. The fingerprints on the hammer could be explained away.
24:35The fingerprints on the knife could be explained away.
24:38Even if we'd found anything on Mariner that took us back to Ryan, you know, like on his fingernails.
24:44Oh yeah, we rough play, we wrestle, you know. Most of the forensic evidence could be explained away without a
24:50lot of imagination and certainly by a good lawyer.
24:53But the fact that the bin belonged to Ryan's home address was a good bit of evidence.
25:07For the family liaison officer, they were the ones who had to tell the family what had happened.
25:12Clearly, they were distraught. Very, very difficult time for everybody.
25:17And heartbroken. Who wouldn't be?
25:20It broke my dad completely, broke him to pieces.
25:24You know, to go and meet a family after their son, who's only seven years old, has been brutally murdered,
25:32it is, well, it's just horrible.
25:35It really is horrible. And Lynn was just, just devastated.
25:42She was very quiet and withdrawn.
25:46And the other family members were sort of keeping it together for Lynn, really, at the time.
25:54I think Lynn was very guilty about the events that led up to what happened.
26:01And of course, they were completely out of her control.
26:04I think Lynn was very unaware of his past.
26:09Or if she knew, he would have made excuses for why he had done it.
26:13So she would never have thought he was a bad person.
26:18The police still go ahead with their public appeal.
26:21But now they have to radically change its content.
26:25It's now a murder inquiry.
26:26So the questions change to, have you seen Ryan with someone?
26:31Have you seen anybody near the golf course in suspicious circumstances?
26:35We don't reveal the wheelie bin.
26:37We still don't mention Mariner.
26:38Because we don't want to prejudice any potential witnesses.
26:44While the investigation team works tirelessly on building a case,
26:49Ryan's body must be examined.
26:52So, you know, the autopsy of a seven-year-old is just tragic beyond words.
26:57And it's not something I'd like to do again.
27:00But it's essential.
27:02It's valuable.
27:03And, of course, it told us how we'd been killed.
27:07The circumstances that were discovered at the post-mortems
27:10were really difficult in terms of emotions.
27:15This was a sustained attack.
27:16Five stab wounds, multiple hammer wounds, and strangulation.
27:20This isn't a couple of seconds.
27:21You know, this is a nasty, nasty sustained attack on a seven-year-old kid.
27:32As detectives piece together events around the case,
27:36another chilling detail presents itself
27:39regarding Mariner's interests he shared with Ryan the night of his death.
27:44We knew he liked to watch very violent video games,
27:49games that he played with, with young Ryan, a seven-year-old.
27:52We now know about the game and what goes on with the game,
27:55which involves violence and a hammer and knife.
27:58And we're working on the hypothesis that he's killed during the game
28:02or after the game, something that triggered Ronnie's sadistic instincts.
28:07I couldn't say what level of planning went into it,
28:09but the knife wasn't in the lounge when Lin went to bed,
28:12and neither was the hammer.
28:13So he's gone and got them.
28:15That's premeditation.
28:17Then you might say, well, it's not premeditated to kill.
28:19He was just going to say, look, oh, look, here's the game,
28:22and here's a knife, and here's a hammer.
28:25All of this is going through our heads because we know he's a sadist.
28:28Part of the forensic examination was they found a smear of blood
28:33on the window, which was the exit point.
28:37Obviously, they found the blood on the window,
28:40so I'm thinking, obviously, that it's gone through,
28:43his body's gone through a window or a tight space,
28:46out the front door where it's noticed above.
28:49That could have happened at any time, but again, it supports the theory that murder happened in the house.
28:57And he was charged with murder.
29:03That information was quickly spread around the community, and people were visibly shocked.
29:14Yeah, it was a very, very difficult time, knowing that my dad went through that,
29:19and my nana and granddad.
29:22That weekend, I was on my own, I had to play on my own, and it was very upsetting.
29:27I was just playing on my own in a ball pit, just waiting for someone to come and play with
29:33me, basically.
29:34And I was really upset, like, I just wanted to see my brother.
29:38I was just, like, crying and stuff, and I just wanted to see him.
29:44Mariner has been remanded in custody awaiting his trial.
29:48But then, through his solicitor, he makes an alarming claim relating to Ryan's mother, Lynn.
29:55He said that it was the mother who actually killed him.
30:00She was drinking. Many upset her.
30:04And then she murdered him, and he cleaned up.
30:07And he agreed to move the body.
30:10The following day, the body was put in a cupboard.
30:13And he said he disposed of the body. He admitted that much.
30:16He disposed of the body because he loved her, and he didn't want her to go to jail.
30:21The timing was out because he'd been seen pushing a wheelie bin by the ex-girlfriend.
30:26And in any case, later on that day, the house was searched by the police.
30:31So we knew it was rubbish, and we could prove it was rubbish.
30:36But it was another element of stress in the case, and obviously, we're still stressed for the family.
30:42Yeah, he's very callous and cold, didn't he?
30:45Instead of admitting his guilt, he's sort of trying to place the blame on the mother.
30:49That's going to be evil, isn't he, really?
30:52For a defender not to admit an offence of this nature, it begs the question, why?
30:57Why?
31:15A few weeks later, a family attended the funeral with...
31:22obviously Ryan's dad was there with his grandparents and myself and Jack Dees
31:29attended that funeral. People were really upset the people who were close to the
31:34family or just neighbors or people who live close by who felt deeply touched
31:40by the death of a young boy they felt moved to show their support to show that
31:46they were hurting too to try and show a bit of kindness towards Ryan's family.
31:51I didn't go because I was so young but my dad always told me that he had a good
31:57sender and he also said that there was loads of people that came and showed the
32:02respect to Ryan.
32:14So I was covering the first day of this trial it's always emotionally charged
32:20that first day. My job during the trial was obviously to look after family members that
32:26were at court and particularly Lynn. She was agitated it was difficult for her I was so
32:33involved with Lynn and keeping her calm and able to deal with just going in and out that
32:40even the court building at times just keeping her on a level that she could manage that because it
32:45was very very difficult for her. All the attention is the jury members of the public have been called up
32:52just to do their civic duty to take part in a trial and in those moments when you watch their
33:01faces when
33:01they're told this is a murder trial and a seven-year-old child has been murdered in
33:07the most brutal of circumstances. You can see the shock on their faces, the gasps, audible gasps and people looking
33:15scared and frightened you know very uncomfortable that this is going to be something that they're going to have to
33:21listen to
33:21and they're going to have to decide on. It's a huge responsibility.
33:26One of the limitations some people said was all the evidence was circumstantial because we had no direct evidence of
33:33the murder, we had no direct evidence of the disposal other than the partial identification of the wheelie bin but
33:41all these bits of circumstantial evidence add up and quite often you don't get the full picture.
33:47In fact very rarely do you get the full picture even if you've got it on CCTV you won't have
33:52the sound and people can explain away various things.
33:55The evidence that was put before the jury lacked a lot of what is normally seen as the clinchers nowadays,
34:03there was no CCTV, no DNA, forensic was very limited, the only real forensic was the smear on the on
34:11the windowsill.
34:12There was a lot of conflicting evidence in this case, circumstantial evidence, nobody saw Ronald Mariner kill Ryan, nobody saw
34:22Ronald Mariner dispose of his body.
34:25We need to make sure he's convicted and we have to do that by proving it beyond reasonable doubt to
34:30a jury of 12 men and women, members of the public, not specialists, not judges, that can be difficult.
34:36I think everybody who's read the papers has come across cases of juries making unusual verdicts and as police officers
34:46you come across it all the time so that's very very firmly in our minds.
34:53We just couldn't see where he could go other than to repeat his allegation that Lynn did it.
35:03Mariner's explanation of Lynn killing poor little Ryan was farcical.
35:09Not only did he say she stabbed him after he spilled a drink, he said he didn't know what to
35:14do, he paced the floor and he ran upstairs looking for a mobile phone which he couldn't find and he
35:19came downstairs and she was holding a hammer.
35:21You know, it's just absolutely outrageous, the whole thing.
35:26That in itself is absolutely horrific and she found that very difficult to process because, you know, clearly Mariner was
35:40an evil man trying to blame his doings on other people and it was just awful, absolutely awful for her
35:48to go through it.
35:50Such is the severity of the charge against the accused, the judge in the case allows the jury to be
35:56told about Mariner's other similar crimes.
35:59And then we understood that this was where Ronald Mariner had attacked that 11 year old child in the very
36:09same golf course where Ryan's body was found.
36:12This was a groundbreaking case because the jury was allowed to be made known to the jury, which previously was
36:19not heard of.
36:23Now that was very unusual in those days and it has to be very similar and to have a direct
36:29bearing on the case.
36:31It was because it happened in the same place and it was because it happened against a young person.
36:36So the jury were allowed to hear an agreed version of the facts of that offence.
36:43That really hit home, you know, if they had any doubt. I think that buried those doubts.
36:47I think we were only at court for four days. I think it was Monday to Thursday and the jury
36:54were not out very long.
36:56And then the jury are told it is their decision alone to forget all that they may have thought, all
37:03that they may have heard about this case,
37:05for them to go in the jury room and take their time to consider what they've heard and come up
37:12with their verdict on whether the man standing in the dock, Ronald Mariner, was guilty.
37:20All I remember is my dad telling me that the juror went out for 90 minutes and they came back
37:27with a verdict straight away.
37:30That is exceptionally quick. That jury took just over an hour to come back and say that they were sure
37:41that Ronald Mariner was guilty of his murder.
37:45And they were visibly shaking when they gave that verdict to that courtroom.
37:54Mariner really didn't bat an eyelid to anything that went on in court that day.
37:59And he just looked as such an insignificant person and kind of pitiful, really.
38:06Ronald Mariner is convicted and there was no remorse, there was no explanation, no reaction.
38:14Ronald Mariner was impassive in the dock.
38:19On the sentencing, the judge put very eloquently how we all felt.
38:24He said he was a dangerous man that needed to be put away for a long time and sentenced him
38:28to 25 years.
38:29And we all thought, yeah, he summed it up very nicely.
38:33From my point of view, 25 years is not sufficient for a horrific crime of that nature.
38:40And if he is to be released after 25 years, then I think the authorities need to keep a watch
38:46over him to ensure that he doesn't do anything like that again.
38:50It upsets me more that they've not had a confession yet of him actually doing it and saying that he'd
38:56done it and what his mindset was when he was going through that.
39:00He has never admitted responsibility for the events and I hope he's never released.
39:07Knowing that his parole is coming up in 2027 if it gets accepted, knowing that he'll be walking on the
39:14streets.
39:15And it just upsets me that obviously he's going to be around children and I don't think he should be
39:21around children or vulnerable adults at the end of the day.
39:24Because he's a danger to everyone in society.
39:29I know he has to be considered by the relevant people for parole, but unless they can convince people he's
39:36not a danger to society without admitting it, you know, he just, no.
39:40He's a throw away the key guy, he really is.
39:56After the trial, there was a lot of interest from the media, as you'd expect, and I said it's time
40:03perhaps to put violent offenders on a register.
40:06This case highlighted a gap in the law because there was a disclosure issue required for violent offenders with children.
40:17Ronnie was never put on any kind of offenders register and therefore, even though he was a danger to children,
40:25there wasn't anything in place at that time that could help anybody finding out about his violent past.
40:31So the family were integral in trying to change the law, trying to ensure that other families didn't suffer in
40:37the way that they did.
40:39The MP at the time from Bolton West got on board. He's a Labour MP, he was a Labour government,
40:44you know, and at the time the Home Office were quite receptive.
40:49So this was the early stages of changing the law that Ryan Mason's family were involved with, that was his
40:56legacy.
40:56Even more information was being given to members of the public so that they were in a much better position
41:02to find out about people's previous violent history or sexual offences so that they could make a decision whether they
41:09wanted to be in a relationship or have them anywhere near their families.
41:13I like to think that went some way towards the creation of the violent and sex offenders register.
41:22If there's one thing that's come out of the sad death of Ryan Mason, it's the legacy of the Violence
41:30and Sexual Offenders Act that may in future present to other people.
41:37With Ryan, if he was still alive, he'd be the same cheeky boy.
41:43I always have dreams about this, like, moment, like, if he was still alive now, what would be happening?
41:50And it'd just be, it'd just be the same to his nephew, because he's got nieces and nephews now.
41:57It'd just be the same with them, like, caring and going out of his way to see them and everything
42:03like that.
42:12This case for me was a very long time ago. It was over 20 years ago, but it does stay
42:19with you because this was a child's murder.
42:22And then I had children myself and the nature of this case that this was a vulnerable little boy, a
42:29really charming little boy.
42:30And he was at home. He was with family members.
42:36My son was a similar age to Ryan at the time, and I just couldn't comprehend the thought of losing
42:44a child at that age.
42:46But something I'll never, ever forget.
42:50And I hope very few families ever have to go through that themselves because it is, it's your worst nightmare.
43:04To remember Ryan, I go and visit his grave where he's peacefully resting with other family members.
43:13It's a very peaceful place. I come here when I can, really.
43:21I've got my three kids now, but obviously there's going to be that one piece of jigsaw puzzle that's going
43:28to be not there, and that is Ryan.
43:33My dad, he'll always talk about Ryan. He'll want everyone to know what he was like, and he was a
43:40kind little boy.
43:41It gives me comfort that he's with my nana, who he was close with, and my granddad.
43:49I'll see you very soon. I'll probably be coming on your birthday to put more flowers down, and I'll remember
43:56the sunflowers.
44:25I'll be right back.