TV reconstruction helps hunt for killer

Nellie, played here by an actress in the TV reconstruction, was attacked just a short walk from her Elizabeth Grove home

Nellie’s final steps caught on camera
THE final moments of pensioner Nellie Geraghty’s life were re-created yesterday for the BBC’s “Crimewatch” show.

An actress played the 79-year-old great-grandmother at the scene of the crime for the programme, set to be aired next Thursday.

The elderly woman was filmed by camera crews as she walked the exact route that Nellie took before she was attacked between 11.50am and noon on Thursday, November 24, last year.

Police hope the reconstruction will spur someone to come forward with evidence that will help catch her killer.

Film crews set up at her home in Elizabeth Grove, Shaw, before moving to the alleyway linking it with Kershaw Street where the attack happened exactly eight weeks ago.

The programme will show the moment she was attacked and include moving interviews with Nellie’s family.

The family has not given up hope that Nellie’s handbag containing her husband Frank’s ashes, snatched by the mugger, could still be recovered.

A co-ordinated appeal was also launched by police, with vans advertising a £5,000 reward for the recovery of the handbag and ashes circulating Shaw.

Witnesses are also being traced and anyone with information is asked to call the Major Incident Team on 0161-856-5448 or email mit.pendleton@gmp.police.uk.