MARK WESTON has been found guilty today of murdering Vikki Thompson in west Oxfordshire in 1995.

Weston, 35, had been acquitted 14 years ago of killing Mrs Thompson in Ascott-under-Wychwood but was re-arrested last year after discovery of blood samples on his boots.

Weston, of Dawls Close, denied murder but a jury at Reading Crown Court has today convicted him.

He will be sentenced at 2pm following mitigation from his defence team.

Mrs Thompson's husband Jonathan had found her at the foot of a railway embankment off Shipton Lane just before 7.30pm on August 12, 1995.

He had gone looking for her after she failed to return from walking the family's dog.

The 30-year-old had been struck about the head several times and died six days later in hospital.

John Price, the prosecutor, had told the jury the prosecution's case was that Weston was committing an indecent act and was spotted by Mrs Thompson.

Police found a plastic bag near the scene containing two bras stained with semen matching the DNA profile of Weston. Forensic scientists said it had been deposited within days of the bras being seized on August 14.

This key piece of evidence was not allowed by the judge in the first trial, but it was put before the jury this time.

Weston was tried for murder in 1996 at Oxford Crown Court but was acquitted.

He was re-arrested last year after small amounts of Mrs Thompson's blood, missed during the initial investigation, were discovered on a pair of his boots when Thames Valley Police reopened the case.

Pete Beirne, a retired detective recruited by police to investigate unsolved crimes, said after the trial: "This is the first time using double jeopardy legislation that new forensic evidence has been used to secure a conviction, so it's very significant."

A full report will appear in Tuesday's Oxford Mail.