Mary-Ann: Police search flat

Forensic teams investigating the murder of Mary-Ann Leneghan - whose family is from Co Mayo - today began searching a flat above a massage parlour as they hunted for clues to trace her killers.

Mary-Ann has family in Mount Jubilee, Bangor Erris. Her father Bertie emigrated to England in 1972.

The 16-year-old, together with her 18-year-old friend, who remains seriously ill in hospital, were abducted by a gang of six men late on Friday night.

The two girls were then dumped in Prospect Park, Reading, Berkshire, on Saturday morning after being subjected to a sex attack which lasted several hours.

Police said today that the flat which was being scoured for evidence to help the inquiry had been unoccupied for the last two weeks.

A local woman said she had often seen Mary-Ann and her friend hanging around on a corner near the property both late at night and in the early hours.

“I always used to see Mary-Ann hanging around in odd places. She used to be on the Oxford Road at odd times – first thing in the morning or last thing at night – with gangs of people.”

The woman said she had spotted her and her friend “every other week” on the Oxford Road, which is renowned for being Reading’s red light district, for the last six months.