One year later, on Thursday, December 23rd, 1994, two men kidnapped Tracey Mertens, 31, from her Nechells, Birmingham, home and drove her to the Cheshire village of Eaton. There, on the steps of St. Michael’s Church, they poured petrol over her and set her alight. Tracey was able to tell police what had happened before she died from burns in hospital the following day.

A Birmingham man was later charged with conspiracy to murder but the case was dropped for lack of evidence.

In December, 2001, seven years after the killing, police appealed for more information. Detective Chief Inspector John Davies said: “Tracey died a terrible and cruel death, at the hands of two ruthless strangers. We want to know why she was targeted in such a way. We need to bring these ruthless killers to justice.”