UK's Northumbria Police arrest, bail man over murder of seven-year-old

February 21, 2014

A 43-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murdering 7-year-old girl Nikki Allan in the UK 21 years ago, and released on bail, yesterday. Her murder, in which she was hit in the head and stabbed dozens of times, has not resulted in anyone being convicted thus far.

Nikki Allan disappeared after leaving her grandparents' apartment in the city of in  of England to walk back to her own, which was in the same block, on October 7, 1992. She failed to return and was found dead the next day in the Old Exchange Building, which was derelict at the time and close to her home, with 37 stab wounds and damage to her head by a brick.

Until now, no individual has been convicted in connection with Allan's death. A male neighbour previously charged with her murder was found not guilty in 1994 when a judge determined police had used "oppressive methods" in getting him to make a confession.

collaborated last year with the BBC to reconstruct the last sightings of Nikki Allan in an appeal on a September 2013 edition of . Nikki Allan's mother Sharon Henderson held a vigil to mark the 21st anniversary of her daughter's death in October last year.