Genette Tate: Lack of evidence kept child killer Black out of dock

THE police investigation into the disappearance of Genette Tate took a step backwards when the Crown Prosecution Service decreed there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against serial child killer Robert Black, who had admitted to sex crime exper

THE police investigation into the disappearance of Genette Tate took a step backwards when the Crown Prosecution Service decreed there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against serial child killer Robert Black, who had admitted to sex crime expert Ray Wyre that he targeted girls on bikes.

Black, who is serving ten life sentences, had long been considered the prime suspect.

News that he was not to face charges came on the 30th anniversary of Genette's disappearance last year.

Black has made no admissions over the Genette Tate case, but neither did he assist detectives who saw him put away for a minimum of 35 years for the abduction and murder of three young girls and the attempted abduction of a fourth.

When he left the dock at Newcastle Crown Court in 1994, he remarked: "Well done, boys."

His comment was directed at detectives, who painstakingly collected damning evidence with no help from their suspect.

John Tate, Genette's father, has written to Black, saying he wants to bury his daughter before he dies. Black is not known to have replied.

Whatever the truth, the fact remains that Genette Tate is still missing almost 31 years after she disappeared.

The case remains open.