Dennis McGrory, 75 (07.03.47) of Cherry Road, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, was found guilty by a jury at Huntingdon Crown Court on Monday, 19 December of the rape and murder of 15-year-old Jackie Montgomery in Islington.
He will be sentenced at the same court on Friday, 13 January.
The conviction reverses an earlier acquittal delivered by a judge 46 years ago, and came about after a review of the case by Met detectives and forensic scientists established that DNA found on the victim was one billion times more likely to belong to McGrory than anyone else.
This new significant evidence was presented to the Court of Appeal, who agreed that the original decision should be quashed and a re-trial held.
Detective Constable Jane Mascall, from the Met’s Specialist Casework Team, said: “In 1975 there was no way of testing for DNA, and detectives at the time relied on other forms of evidence. Although McGrory was charged with Jackie’s murder, he was acquitted at trial which was a devastating outcome for her family. Many years later, a forensic review of the case meant we were able to take advantage of advancements in DNA technology, and we discovered a trace of McGrory’s DNA on a swab taken from Jackie. This new and compelling evidence meant that, working in close liaison with our colleagues from the Crown Prosecution Service, we were able to apply double jeopardy legislation to ensure he finally faced justice. Jackie’s sister, Kathy, was determined that this case should not be forgotten and I hope for her sake, and the rest of Jackie’s family, that this outcome will provide some comfort.”
Detective Supterintendent Rebecca Reeves, Central Specialist Crime, said: “McGrory’s conviction coming after so many years demonstrates the lengths that police and prosecutors will go to in the hope of securing justice for victims and their families, no matter how much time has passed.
“McGrory is a violent man, a bully who terrified the women in his life. He thought he had got away with murder, but thanks to the hard work of specialist detectives and expert forensic scientists, he has now finally been held accountable for taking the life of a young girl in 1975.
“Jackie was courageous and bright. She stood up for her aunt who had fled from McGrory’s violence and abuse. She is missed deeply by her siblings and by the other members of her family who are still alive and my thoughts are with all of them today.
“The Case Officer for this investigation, DC Mascall, has been working on this case for the last seven years and I would like to praise her dedication and skill, as well as the skill and professionalism of the Met’s forensic scientists. Up and down the country, there are small teams of specialist detectives working tirelessly on unsolved cases in the quest for justice for victims’ families and to protect the public from dangerous offenders.
“We know that we cannot bring answers to every family with a loved one lost to murder, but we never give up and we work with the benefit of cutting-edge modern forensic techniques.
“I hope this case, in its own way, sends a message to domestic violence offenders today about the determination of police and prosecutors to make London safer for women and children.”
Jackie’s sister, Kathy, said: “Jackie and I always said that we could trust no-one. A violent man who had been living within our family (raped and) murdered my sister. He has been able to live his life. He has spent nearly fifty years as a free man doing as he pleased. I find that unbearable when my sister didn’t even reach her sixteenth birthday. His actions caused trauma to so many people and there were no consequences for him. The investigation of the last few years has meant revisiting memories of the murder which has caused pain and stress for me and my family and I am relieved that we finally have justice for Jackie.”
Jackie’s body was discovered by her father in the early hours of 2 June 1975 at their home address in Offord Road, Islington. A post-mortem revealed she had been stabbed several times, strangled with the flex of an iron, and received blunt force trauma injuries to her face. The scene also showed signs that she had been sexually assaulted. The state of the room was consistent with a struggle and the phone was off the hook. This supported the fact the line was engaged from late on the morning of 1 June, indicating the murder likely took place before this time. The disturbed phone was believed to be an attempt by Jackie to call for help.
At the time of the murder, McGrory was the ex-long term partner of Jackie’s aunt. He was swiftly arrested in connection with the incident and taken into custody. Images taken of him at the time revealed a number of visible injuries, including a bruised lip and long scratch to his neck, and smaller scratches to his wrist and arm.
On 10 July that year he was charged with Jackie’s murder. But he was later acquitted by a jury following a direction from the judge.
In November 2015, detectives from the Met’s Specialist Casework Team commenced a review of the case following a request from Jackie’s family, who had been living with unanswered questions for decades.
The Specialist Casework Team – part of the Central Specialist Crime Command – can be tasked to reinvestigate non-recent homicides where new lines of enquiry have come to light.
The team of detectives set about carrying out a thorough review of the original case papers and quickly identified an opportunity to take advantage of developments in forensic technology. A swab taken from Jackie’s body at the time of the murder was re-submitted for examination and found to contain the DNA of a second individual. Inquiries revealed this was McGrory – whose details were already on the system following a conviction in 2009 for unrelated offences. The DNA evidence also made it possible to confirm that Jackie had been raped before she was murdered.
On 3 March 2020, McGrory was re-arrested for Jackie’s murder at his home address in Milton Keynes. He was charged with her murder for the second time in June 2020, 45 years after she was killed.
McGrory was 28 when he raped and brutally murdered Jackie while she was home alone. He had attended the address looking for Jackie’s aunt, who had recently ended their relationship and moved to Manchester in an attempt to get away from him. So she was not at the address when McGrory turned up that night, and it is likely he took his anger and frustration out on the teenager.
Earlier that evening he had been drinking heavily, leaving a nearby premises in N16 at around 04.00hrs. After the murder he went to see a neighbour and was visibly shaking and excitable. He showed this neighbour a piece of paper with an address allegedly for Jackie’s aunt written on it. He claimed it had been given to him by four “geezers” who had assaulted him before passing the note on.
But officers were able to establish that the piece paper – which McGrory was found to be in possession of when arrested by officers during the original investigation – had in fact been torn from Jackie’s diary which was found at the murder scene with a page removed.
During the course of the trial, it came to light that McGrory had previously made comments towards Jackie which had suggested a sexual interest in her, including a threat to rape her.
