Body of Darlington teenager Ashleigh Hall found in ditch

Oct 28 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

A TEENAGE girl has been found dead in a ditch after a secret meeting with a man she had met over the internet.

The body of Ashleigh Michelle Hall was found by police at the foot of an embankment, not far from a dual-carriageway in a rural area of County Durham.

The 17-year-old was studying childcare at Darlington College and lived in the town.

A 32-year-old Merseyside man, understood to have links to Stockton-on-Tees, is being held by Durham Police on suspicion of her murder.

Last night, family at Ashleigh’s home were too upset to talk about her death, but her mother Andrea left a message on a social networking site on the internet saying: “My beautiful daughter has been taken away from me”.

Friends described Ashleigh as a bubbly girl who had “loads of friends” and was always smiling.

One pal said she recently made friends with a male on the Facebook website. The friend said: “He told her he was 16, but obviously it looks like that was a lie.”

Police said Ashleigh told her mother on Sunday that she would stay with a friend overnight and return home on Monday at lunchtime. When she failed to return, her mother tried to contact her on her mobile phone, without success.

Yesterday’s dramatic events began on the A177 when Cleveland Police stopped a car in connection with minor traffic offences.

The driver was taken to Middlesbrough police station. While in custody there, he asked to speak to detectives.

The man took them to a field beside a lane just outside Sedgefield. It’s close to the Little Chef restaurant at the roundabout on the junction of the A177 Stockton Road and the A689. There, the body of young Ashleigh was discovered. The area was cordoned off immediately. Last night, police were unable to say how or where she died, but believe she could have been killed between 7pm on Sunday and 5.40pm on Monday.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harker said the attested man was driving a dark blue Ford Mondeo car, registration S148 JNK. It was due to undergo forensic examination yesterday.

The detective said: “We are anxious to trace the car’s movements from 7pm on Sunday evening until 5.40pm on Monday when the man was arrested.”

Last night, Danny Fisher, 17, a student from Darlington and a friend of Ashleigh’s, said: “I went to college with Ashleigh.

“She was very outgoing and had loads of friends. She was really popular.

“I heard that she had been talking with a man on Facebook. He told her he was 16, but obviously it looks like that was a lie.”

Other friends paid tribute to the “bubbly” girl who was “always smiling”. And James Hyde, 18, from Darlington, said: “She has four little sisters and she was always looking out for them. She loved them.”

Ashleigh left Hurworth School in Darlington last year and its chief executive, Eamonn Farrar, last night said he was “absolutely stunned”.

“I just can’t believe it. She was the nicest kid in the universe, you’d never meet a nicer kid. She’d always have a smile for you walking down the corridor.

“They were such a lovely family, I can’t believe anybody would want to do anything to hurt them.”

Mr Farrar said Ashleigh has completed a wide range of GCSEs and had a large friendship group. He added that after the half-term break, staff and pupils would try to remember Ashleigh “as a student at Hurworth and one we were all fond of. She was a lovely, lovely kid.”

Det Ch Insp Harker said: “This is a very tragic case. It came about from a strange set of circumstances.

“My message in terms of meeting people from the internet is please do not do it unless you are absolutely certain it is safe.”

Anyone with information, particularly in relation to the car, should call police on 0345 606-0365 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

An incident room has been set up at Bishop Auckland police station.

Page 2: Scene of crime