The investigation into the murder of Melanie Road

When Melanie Road's body was found in the early hours of a June morning in 1984, it prompted one of the largest murder inquiries the West Country had ever seen. >But three decades on, police were no closer to finding her killer - until - they finally got a lucky break early last year. >We've been given exclusive access to the investigation team charged with 'Catching a Killer'.

It looks like an ordinary office, the filing cabinets an unassuming grey. >But inside - tens of thousands of documents. The legacy of 30 years of work, trying to find Melanie Road's killer. The police investigation was one of the largest murder inquiries the West Country has ever seen.

These are the original statements from 1984. At the time of the murder, 94 men were arrested and later released.

At the time they did have a lead - officers found a trail of blood. The murderer's blood as he bled fleeing the scene. In 1995 they obtained the DNA profile from this preserved sample.>Later they would get a full DNA profile. But But Hampton hadn't re-offended and his DNA wasn't on a database. So they had no match for Melanie's killer.

Then, Julie MacKay asked for what's known as a familial check - to see if DNA from relatives were on the system. And a name came up which had just been added to the register.

But it wasn't Hampton's name on the list. It was one of his daughter's. She had recently been arrested and cautioned for an offence.>When Hampton's daughter appeared as a strong DNA link, then was himself swabbed, police at last had their man.

Now justice - and despite living a normal life for three decades, he'll now spend his old age behind bars.