Sally Anne's killer caught by tests after pub brawl

Mark Dixie, the killer of aspiring model Sally Anne Bowman, was only caught after DNA taken when he was arrested for a minor brawl matched samples left at the scene of her murder.

Dixie was never convicted or even charged with the assault. But his DNA was still entered on the national database, leading to his subsequent conviction for the murder of Miss Bowman in September 2005.

Dixie, 38, had got caught up in a fight at Ye Olde Six Bells pub in Horley, Surrey, where he was working, in June 2006 - nine months after 18-year-old Miss Bowman was stabbed to death and then sexually assaulted on her doorstep in Croydon.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault, a relatively minor offence, and - like everyone else in his position - made to give a saliva sample. Twelve days after the arrest, his DNA was put on the police national computer and immediately proved a match for Sally Anne's murder.

Dixie was jailed for life in February this year and ordered to serve a minimum 34 years. He denied the offence, claiming he had stumbled across her corpse and decided to have sex with her before realising she was dead.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Cundy, who led the investigation into the murder, said: "A national DNA register could have identified Sally Anne's murderer within 24 hours. Instead it took nearly nine months."