A mother's plea to find killer; New bid to solve crime 20 years on.

Byline: NEIL ATKINSON

IT was an horrific, cold-blooded execution.

Now, 20 years later, detectives have launched a fresh bid to solve a grisly murder case which ended on the moors above Huddersfield.

In a "cold case" inquiry, police have offered a pounds 10,000 reward to bring the killer, or killers, to justice.

The independent charity, Crimestoppers, has offered the reward to help catch the killer, or killers, of 23-year-old Laurence Winstanley who vanished from his home near Oldham on October 2, 1988.

His body was discovered almost a year later, on September 26, trussed up and dumped in Baitings Reservoir, just off the A58 on the outskirts of Ripponden.

The summer drought had left the water levels lower than normal.

Laurence had been shot in the head.

But the killers also inflicted other injuries before his body was dumped in a curtain and weighted down in the water.

Detectives at the time believed it was a gangland "execution".

Now Supt Colin Prime, of the West Yorkshire Police Major Incident Review Team, said: "Someone out there knows who was responsible for Laurence's death.

"The circumstances of the murder and the subsequent recovery of his body lead us to believe that the killer did not act alone.

"I would urge anyone who may hold any information to come forward and assist in bringing the killers to justice.

"I have been in personal contact with Laurence's family and they wake each morning thinking of Laurence and how his life ended, not knowing who was responsible.

"I am keen to be able to answer that question and finally bring some closure for his mother, Mrs Vanessa Winstanley, and her family after all these years."

Eight years ago, the Winstanley family put up a pounds 25,000 reward for information about the killing.

It prompted several new lines of inquiry, but left police no nearer trapping the killer.

At the time of his disappearance Laurence, a part-time car dealer, lived in the Sholver area of Oldham.

On the day he went missing, he was drinking at his local pub, The Windsor, where he received a telephone call which seemed to concern him.

He went to his mother's house, but took over an hour to complete the journey which would normally take a matter of minutes.

Officers want to know where Laurence went that afternoon before calling to see his mother.

He was seen again at the pub later that evening, but no-one can be sure what time he left.

He was never seen alive again.

A couple of days after his disappearance, his vehicle, a red Ford Cortina estate, registration number SAT 385W, was taken to a scrap merchants in the Oldham area.

When Laurence was found in the reservoir, his body was wrapped in a curtain which had been weighted down by a pick axe head.

Mrs Winstanley has now moved away from Oldham, but issued a statement through the police.

She said: "Laurence was a wonderful son. The whole family have lost their normal lives.

"We only function in the hope that this will come to a close, that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, and that Laurence will finally be laid to peace.

"He was given no chance to have a normal life; to get married, to have children and to grow old.

"The people responsible for this horrific crime must be found and punished, somebody must know them, and we urge you the public to have the strength to come forward and speak out."

. Anyone with information can contact the Review Team on 01924 292456 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or using the secure online form which can be found on the website: www.crimestoppers-uk.org

CAPTION(S):

* VICTIM: Murder victim Laurence Winstanley (above right) who was found dead at Baitings Reservoir and (left) how the examiner reported the killing in 1989 * SUPT COLIN PRIME: ''Someone out there knows who was responsible for Laurence's death."