Alice Gross inquest: Schoolgirl, 14, was unlawfully killed in sexually motivated attack, jury rules

The body of schoolgirl Alice Gross was found concealed in the Grand Union canal
John Dunne @jhdunne4 July 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Schoolgirl Alice Gross was unlawfully killed in a sexually motivated attack, a jury ruled today.

The 14-year-old was killed by Latvian Arnis Zalkalns in August 2014, before being weighed down with bricks and logs.

Her body was discovered on September 30. She had died from compression asphyxia at the hands of Zalkalns, who had served a prison sentence for murdering his wife in his native Latvia.

The 41-year-old was found hanged nearby in Boston Manor Park on October 4. Scotland Yard said he would have been charged with the schoolgirl's murder had he still been alive.

Arnis Zalkans was found hanged a week after the schoolgirl's body was found

On the sixth day of the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, a jury of eight men and three women announced their "final conclusions" relating to Alice's death.

They found that her death was "consistent with compression asphyxia".

After the jury returned with its conclusions on Monday afternoon, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox read out a list of recommendations she was "highly likely" to make to the Home Office in relation to foreign national cases.

Last week, she told the jury that evidence given at the inquest did not support conclusions that would "imply that any actions or inactions" of the Home Office or police "caused or contributed" to Alice's death.

Alice's father Jose Gross, sister Nina and mother Ros Hodgkiss were present in court as the jury forewoman read out the conclusions reached.

During the proceedings, Ms Hodgkiss read a prepared statement to the jury in which she said the family "remain stunned" that Zalkalns was "not monitored or even known about in any way" after he came to the UK.

Friends and family have set up an online fund in memory of Alice Gross. Donate to it here.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT