MARK Weston was originally cleared of murder within an hour, but his desire to get revenge lasted years.

The odd-job man, who continued to live in Ascott-under-Wychwood until his rearrest last October, attempted to sue police for wrongful arrest and imprisonment, and then took to harassing those connected with the 1995 case.

After his initial acquittal, Weston received a letter from jury chairman Karlos Coran which read: “I hope you are all getting on well now and hope you go ahead and get big compensation from the police as they had NO evidence of any sort whatsoever.”

Weston was granted legal aid but failed to win any compensation.

Two years after Vikki Thompson’s murder Weston admitted four counts of harassment after making threatening phone calls to Pc Bob Salmon, the village policeman who lived next door to the Westons and who had bugged their house for three months as part of the original investigation.

Witney magistrates heard Weston made dozens of silent calls between June and September 1997 to Pc Salmon, his wife Sheila and their daughters Natalie, 19 at the time, and Caroline, then 22. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and a restraining order.

In April 1999 Weston was given a two-year probation order after admitting another harassment charge, this time against another neighbour, Lucy Bull, who had given evidence on his behalf during the murder trial. Witney magistrates were told Weston pushed notes through her door, shone torches into her house and made more silent phone calls.

His other previous convictions are three counts of obtaining property by deception in 1992 and theft in July 1995.