Mary Ann raped, drugged, tortured

Detectives hunting the gang who murdered teenager Mary Ann Leneghan were today interviewing her 18-year-old friend in hospital.

Police revealed that the girls were injected with heroin, raped and burned with cigarettes during a " disgusting" five-hour ordeal.

The 18-year-old was shot in the head by her attackers, but survived and is now under 24-hour guard as the key witness in the hunt for the killers.

The unnamed teenager told detectives how one member of the gang tried to execute her by putting a sock over a black handgun and firing it into the back of her head.

Incredibly, the round shattered when it hit her skull and did not penetrate. Superintendent Dilip Amin, area commander for Reading, said: "She is very ill from the injuries she has received, but she has been very brave in helping police and she has managed to share information with officers."

Last night police released a fourth man on bail in connection with the murder. Thames Valley Police arrested a man in his twenties in south London yesterday after raids on a number of houses. He has been released without charge.

Three other men who were arrested earlier in the investigation have been released on police bail.

The girls were abducted from a pub car park by six men on Friday night and taken to a room at the Abbey House Hotel.

Here Mary Ann and her friend were injected with heroin and raped. Both girls were also tortured - their bodies left covered with cigarette burns. Mary Ann's hair was partially shaved.

After a five-hour ordeal they were taken to nearby Prospect Park in Tilehurst, where Mary Ann was stabbed to death and her friend stabbed and shot.

Mary Ann was still alive when officers reached her, but unconscious. Paramedics fought for seven minutes to save her, but she died from a deep stab wound to her neck.

Police believe the pair were deliberately targeted, though they were not able to confirm whether the attackers were known to their victims.

Mr Amin said: "Information we have suggests that this is not a random attack. We are keeping all our options open."

Friends said yesterday that Mary Ann was a popular girl who had fallen in with the wrong crowd. A schoolfriend said: "I spoke to her the day before she was killed and she said she was in trouble, but she did not specify why."

A £15,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the killers. Police are also continuing to appeal for any information about a maroon car which the gang were driving with loud music blaring from it.