The horrific murder of a 30-year-old mum in an Oxfordshire village has featured on a new Channel 5 documentary.

Cold Case Killers: Vikki Thompson aired for the first time yesterday (July 5) at 7pm.

Vikki, from Ascott-under-Wychwood near Chipping Norton, was out walking the family dog when she was attacked in August 1995.

READ MORE: Three arrests after 'assault' in town centre

The assault occurred in her home village at around 4pm.  

She was bludgeoned over the head with a rock by killer Mark Weston, who then placed her on the railway line to mislead police.

The 30-year-old had caught Weston masturbating down a country lane.

Vikki’s dog, Daisy, managed to make her own way home which alerted the young mum’s husband Jonathan to her disappearance.

She was found still alive three hours later and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington.

Vikki had suffered severe skull fractures and a brain injury and was not able to explain what had happened to her.

The 30-year-old’s injuries were deemed non-survivable, and her life support machine was switched off six days later.

Vikki had two young children, Matthew and Jenny.

Oxford Mail: Vikki Thompson

But the case went unsolved for 15 years due to the, now repealed, double jeopardy law.

Weston was arrested shortly after the attack, but he was acquitted by a jury in 1996.

When the police reopened the case one decade later, they found droplets of blood on Weston’s shoes.

A damning text message sent from Weston to his ex-girlfriend was also found in the new investigation.

It read: "I killed her and I would do the same to you.”

But police were unable to re-try Weston for murder due to the double jeopardy law which prevented defendants from being tried twice for the same crime.

When this law was changed in 2005, Weston was found guilty and in 2010 he was jailed for life for her murder.

He was ordered by the judge to serve a minimum term of 13 years.

Vikki's husband, Jonathan, said at the time that the change in the law had been "crucial in achieving justice.”

Oxford Mail: Jonathan Thompson

It was later revealed that Weston had also attempted to strangle his girlfriend, Helen Rusher in 2003.

He was also convicted of harassing two other local women.

Cold Case Killers is a British true crime documentary series.

It looks at the stories behind some of the UK’s most infamous cold case murder investigations.

The series began in 2021 and has since run for two seasons.

Cold Case Killers: Vikki Thompson is available to watch on Channel 5's streaming service My 5 now.