Man convicted of murdering two women decades apart

A man has been found guilty of murdering two women 21 years apart.

Gary Allen, 47, killed mother-of-three Samantha Class in Hull in 1997 and mother-of-four Alena Grlakova in Rotherham in 2018.

Allen had been cleared of the murder of Ms Class following a trial in 2000 but this acquittal was overturned in 2019 by the Court of Appeal after a range of new evidence was presented - including the murder of Ms Grlakova.

He was found guilty of murdering both women at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday by a jury which deliberated for two days.

Police forces around the UK will now be asked to check on unsolved cases to make sure Allen - who has professed a deep-seated hatred for women, and sex workers in particular - has not committed any further offences.

The judge, Mr Justice Goose, told Allen he will be sentenced on Wednesday.

He told him to prepare for a life sentence.

The trial heard that Allen told probation officers about his dislike of sex workers and women in general and he confessed that he murdered Samantha Class to an undercover police officer.

Allen strangled 29-year-old Ms Class, who was a sex worker at the time of her death, stamped on her and ran over her with his car before dumping her body in the River Humber, where she was found by children the following day.

The body of 38-year-old Alena Grlakova was found naked in a stream in Rotherham in April 2019 after she was last seen on Boxing Day 2018, when she visited Allen at his flat.

Gary Allen has been found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of the murders of two women 21 years apart.

The jury in the eight-week trial found that Allen, 47, murdered Samantha Class in Hull in 1997 and Alena Grlakova in Rotherham in 2018.

The convictions come 21 years after he was cleared of murdering Ms Class following a trial in 2000. He was jailed later the same year for separate attacks on two sex workers in Plymouth.

In a statement on behalf of all of Alena Grlakova's friends and family, Alena's husband, Viliam Grlak, said:

"The conviction for murder today is welcomed by family and friends of Alena both in the UK and Slovakia.

"The verdict will not reduce the pain and suffering that we have had to endure since Alena was so cruelly taken from us but it does give us the justice that we hoped to achieve.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank South Yorkshire Police for supporting my family during the investigation.

"My family and I would now like to take the time to reflect on what has happened over the last two and a half years and request that we are given the privacy to do so."