What happened to Lucy McHugh, when was the Southampton teen killed and who was found guilty of her murder?
SCHOOLGIRL Lucy McHugh was stabbed to death in woodland at the Southampton Sports Centre on July 25 last year.
Almost a year later, care worker Stephen Nicholson was found guilty of the "execution-style" murder of Lucy who he killed to prevent her revealing his year-long abuse of her.
When was Stephen Nicholson found guilty?
Evil Nicholson was convicted at Winchester Crown Court on July 18 of the murder of the 13-year-old as well as three counts of rape when she was aged 12.
He was also found guilty of sexual activity with a child in relation to another girl in 2012, who was aged 14.
He was acquitted of a charge of sexual activity with a child on multiple occasions when Lucy was aged 13.
The youngster, described as "vulnerable" because of her age and because she had been diagnosed as having ADHD, had been lured there by the defendant.
The trial heard Nicholson, described by police as a "predatory paedophile", had abused Lucy for more than a year while living as a lodger at her family home.
He then killed her to silence her when she threatened to reveal their sexual relationship.
She had also said that she would tell her mother that Nicholson had got her pregnant although a post mortem examination showed that she was not pregnant at the time of her death.
How was the suspect caught?
Nicholson was linked to the murder through DNA evidence from both him and Lucy found on clothing, described by prosecutors as his "murder kit", which was discarded in woodland in Tanner's Brook, about a mile from the murder scene.
He also tried to cover his tracks by inflicting wounds on Lucy that could be interpreted as self-inflicted and also posed in different clothing on CCTV at a Tesco Express store.
The court heard Nicholson, a father-of-one, had a love for reptiles and had a collection which included 12 pythons, chameleons, geckos and corn snakes.
Nicholson also told how he enjoyed "soft choking" women during sex which involved squeezing their neck to intensify the sexual effect.
How were detectives hampered during the case?
Vital evidence locked in Nicholson's Facebook account may have been lost because of delays in giving detectives access, according to prosecutors.
Detectives were hampered in uncovering communications between the defendant and 13-year-old Lucy through the social media site by laws on providing access to accounts.
The prosecution was only given a full log of communications between the pair on the day the trial started, but the contents of any messages between the killer and his victim had been lost during the year since her murder.
The prosecution had to rely in the trial on Nicholson's account of the contact between them through Facebook.
The delay in unlocking Nicholson's account has prompted calls for reform from politicians and by Britain's most senior police officer.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said officers are forced to go through a "very protracted procedure", and added: "I absolutely think that in certain instances, and it sounds to me like this is one, law enforcement in the UK ought to be able to have vital evidence which might bring somebody to justice."
