'The sun shone on my face and I knew Elsie was watching' - brother of murdered Wakefield schoolgirl Elsie Frost pays tribute

The brother of murdered Wakefield schoolgirl Elsie Frost has said that he hopes his sister would be proud of him.

Colin Frost and Anne Cleaves have been fighting for justice for their sister since her murder in 1965.

Elsie, 14, was killed as she walked home from Horbury Lagoon more than 54 years ago. Her death was today ruled unlawful during an inquest at Wakefield Coroner’s Court.

Anne, Elsie’s older sister, said: “We’ve got almost all of our answers, but not quite. We’ve got a jigsaw puzzle which is almost complete except for one piece.

Colin Frost and Anne Cleaves have been fighting for justice for their sister since her murder in 1965.They are pictured at a service in her honour.

“We have not and will never have complete justice for the murder of our sister. But that’s the way things are, it’s what we have to accept now and we do.

“It’s been an incredible journey, I’m now worried about keeping myself busy in the future. It’s been a rollercoaster for both of us, a lot of highs and some pretty serious lows at times.”

Colin Frost said that he was pleased with the outcome, but would have liked to see someone convicted for her murder.

He and his sister believe that Peter Pickering, a convicted killer with links to Wakefield, was responsible for Elsie’s death.

But he was also pleased to have helped clear the name of Ian Spencer, who was wrongly accused of Elsie’s murder more than 50 years ago.

He told the Express he had been working with the late Mr Spencer’s son to help clear his name.

Mr Frost said: “Much of what has happened over the last couple of days is about getting the message out to the people of Wakefield and Barnsley that if you can get the message out that people can draw their own conclusions.

“As I said yesterday with all due respect this was always going to be the second best outcome. We have got as much out of this as we possibly can do. I thought the summing up was sensitive towards Elsie.

“We set out to do two things. We set out to get justice for Elsie and we set out to get Mr Spencer’s name cleared.

“We’ve achieved one of the two and as Anne says we just can’t get justice for Elsie. We’ve got as much as we can get.

“Earlier on today the sun shone straight through onto one of the blinds and I couldn’t see.

“I just thought that Elsie and my mum and dad are watching. I hope that they would be proud of us, I really do.”