December 2014: Now released and living in St. Woolos area of Newport, South Wales after serving over 18 years in prison December 1996 – Trial and imprisonment Sex killer Neil Owen was innocently trapped by his own mother when police hunting the murderer of schoolgirl neighbour Claire Hood called at his family home. Detectives only wanted to do a DNA test on Neil’s brother because he was Claire’s age. But while they were in the house, mum Maureen Owen said: “I’ve got two other sons, why don’t you test them as well?” Owen was too panic-stricken to object and officers left the house with a sample of his saliva. It turned out to be the breakthrough in the hunt for Claire’s killer. Owen knew his genetic fingerprint would give him away. When the police returned to his home two months later, he told them: “I’ve been waiting for you to come”. Yesterday the 20-year-old was jailed for life for the brutal rape and murder of Claire. Claire Hood, 15, and her class at school were given an assignment concerning a make-believe murder. As part of their homework the class had to write a composition, “The Suspect,” based on a six scene scenario. The following day Claire decided to play truant. She was seen at the local Tesco, and at the St. Mellons shopping centre, where she bought cigarettes. She was never seen alive again. Next day her semi-naked body was found by a cyclist in Cath Cobb Wood. In her denim jacket pocket was a rough draft of the murder assignment. She had been raped, and some of her clothes were strewn up to 20 feet away. Her killer inflicted 30 injuries as he beat her to death. The court heard Owen pounced on his 15-year-old neighbour as she played truant from school. He dragged her into woods just 100 yards from her home and sexually assaulted her. In court, evil Owen claimed he and Claire had been having a secret affair and that on the day of the murder they met up to have sex. He asked the jury to believe that another man murdered Claire after he had left her alone in the deserted woodland. But prosecuting lawyer John Charles Rees said: “That story is the lie of a desperate, devious young man to avoid his responsibilities for the wicked crimes he committed towards Claire. “Her reputation, like her life, counts for nothing to him.” During the five-week trial at Cardiff crown court, the jury heard that Owen turned into a peeping Tom, hoping to catch a glimpse of Claire in her bedroom. Mr Rees said: “Owen had few friends – he was a loner who was never seen with a girl or even talking to a girl.” Claire was strangled while she was playing truant from classes at Rumney High School in Cardiff. She was last seen alive standing on a bridge in wood, near her home in the St Mellons district. Then Owen pounced, dragging her into the wood, where he raped and killed her. Her semi-naked body was found the next day. Police tested more than 2,100 men in a nationwide DNA hunt for Claire’s killer that cost pounds 75,000. Eventually they stumbled on killer Owen, who was living just 100 yards from Claire’s home on the St Mellons estate. It was revealed in court that four months before the murder Owen had written a school project in which he described himself as a ticking time-bomb, lonely, unable to form meaningful relationships, suffering from severe emotional and psychological problems and prone to violent outbursts. Cross-examining Owen at Cardiff Crown Court, the prosecutor said, “I am going to suggest that the motive among other reasons was that you developed a hatred for women because they taunted you about being homosexual.”
Owen said, “I was not sure whether I was gay or not, just because somebody may think I am.” After Owen was found guilty, the public gallery exploded with cheers and applause. He was sentenced to life for murder and 10 years for rape. The killer looked stony-faced as he was taken to the cells. Claire’s mother, Pam Bennett and sister Sarah, 14, sobbed with relief. Outside the court, Mrs Bennett collapsed into the arms of her sister, saying: “We’ve got him, we’ve got him.” She added: “We have had to listen to an absurd load of lies about Claire. “I will not be happy until Owen is dead.” Claire’s father Kelvin Hood, 41, said: “I just hope he never comes out on the streets again.”