Lancashire Police are today renewing their appeal for information in the continued search for Janet’s murderer on the 30th Anniversary of her death.

On Saturday 15^th June 1996, Janet had spent the day with her best friend Fiona Watson shopping in Preston and visiting pubs in the city centre.

You might remember that hot summer’s day because of two significant events.

The IRA detonated a bomb at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester that morning, causing devastating damage in the area.

In the afternoon, England played Scotland at Wembley in Euro 96 winning with a 2-0 victory.

Janet and her friend visited The Adelphi pub late on the Saturday evening, Janet left the pub with a young man she had been talking to and walked into Preston City Centre.

They parted company near to Tokyo Jo’s nightclub, and Janet was later seen walking alone on Fishergate and then Fishergate Hill in the direction of Penwortham.

In the early hours of Sunday 16^th June, people saw her on Penwortham Bridge which crosses the River Ribble between Preston and Penwortham.

Two witnesses walking home from a night out reported hearing a female wail and seeing a man crouched down by the riverbank near to the Holme Road car park.

Later that day, Janet’s body was found in the River Ribble.

Detective Chief Inspector Bryony Midgley of the Major Crime Review Team, said:

Janet was a young woman who loved life and was loved by so many people.

She had so much going for her and that was taken away when she was attacked and killed as she walked home.

Janet should have been able to get home safely that night, she was entitled to feel safe as she made her way home.

Someone saw Janet on that journey home and for whatever reason attacked and murdered her. It is horrifying to think of what she experienced.

It is 30 years since Janet was killed but we remain determined to get justice for Janet and her family. DNA technology and scientific approaches have significantly improved over the last 30 years, so I hope we will be able to take advantage of this as part of this investigation.

We continue to appeal for information. It might be that you saw something that night or have information which you didn’t contact police about in 1996 or in the years since.

It might be that relationships and loyalties have changed since then, and you are now able to speak to us.

Something you saw at the time might not have seemed relevant and you didn’t report it, but it could help our investigation.

If you were in the area around Fishergate Hill and Penwortham Bridge late on 15^th June and into the early hours of 16^th June, and you haven’t spoken to our officers, I ask you to please get in contact.

We have a dedicated team of detectives working on the investigation and if you have any information that may help us please complete the form by clicking the link below.