A convicted rapist who killed a 14-year-old girl in her Leeds home before eating a chocolate bar and going off to spend the rest of the day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been found guilty of murder.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court took under two hours to find Michael Clark guilty of sexually assaulting and killing Polish teenager Zuzanna Zommer.
The court heard how Zuzanna's body was found by her parents at their home in Leeds, where they had
lived for just a couple of months after moving to the UK.
Clark, who lived next-door-but-one to the Zommer family in Compton Row, Harehills, had cut her throat and smashed her skull, apparently by stamping on her head.
The jury heard how Clark had befriended the Zommer family when they moved into his street but his behaviour had already begun to worry Zuzanna's father.
The court heard how the victim's parents had gone out on the morning of October 1 last year to find work in Leeds city centre and had left their daughter at home, playing on a laptop computer.
Bloodstains found in Clark's kitchen and on some clothing found in his house was matched to Zuzanna by DNA. Fibres which matched others from Zuzanna's clothing were also found on clothes at Clark's home.
One of the knives used to kill Zuzanna was found in a bin at her home along with a wrapper of a chocolate bar which prosecutors said Clark had eaten.
Giving evidence, Clark accused the police of planting evidence to frame him.
The jury of five women and seven men found Clark guilty of one count of murder and another of assault by penetration. The judge, Mr Justice King, said he will sentence Clark on Friday.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2008, All Rights Reserved.
The full article contains 318 words and appears in Press Association newspaper.
