A FATHER whose son was found murdered in a field near Darlington is still hoping to find justice nearly two decades later.
Mark Corley was found with a gunshot wound to the back of his head in a ditch at a farm near Bolam, near Darlington, in December 2000 - five months after he went missing from his home in Lincolnshire.
Nobody has ever been convicted of the killing. In 2001, a judge threw out the case against five suspects after it was discovered police had illegally bugged their conversations with solicitors.
Tony Corley, Mark's father, has now set up a support group for family and friends of loved ones lost through murder.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, Mr Corley criticised the amount of support available for parents of murder victims, and said he was still hoping to find answers about his son's killing, despite it being 20 years ago.
"There's not enough support out there, especially since the government stopped funding certain groups," he said.
"There's about 30 people in the Facebook group already. It has really helped me – it is better than talking to any physiologist. We've actually been through it.
"This is a chance for people to talk online in the group, and then perhaps meet for a coffee if they want. There's none of this travelling for miles to a retreat which I don't think works."
Earlier this year, Lincolnshire Police said it would look at the case if new evidence was found, and Mr Corley has appealed to anyone with information about the incident to come forward to police.
"I'll always have hope that there will be justice. On one hand it could give me closure, but on the other hand it is not going to bring Mark back. It's not just this case, there are so many unsolved cases.
"People say it gets easier as time goes on, but I've always maintained it gets harder, it gets tougher.
"It gives you a buzz to know you've helped someone. I think Mark would be really proud of what I have done."
A trial at Nottingham Crown Court in 2002, heard Mark had been "executed by a brutal shooting", but a judge discharged the defendants after it emerged their conversations with solicitors were recorded at Sleaford and Grantham police stations.
For more information about The Mark Corley Support Talk UK, email markcorleyuk@gmail.com.
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