The Liverpool Echo has paid a £5,000 reward to a reader who helped catch a killer.

Following an appeal in the newspaper, police received a tip-off which led to 31-year-old James Greenwood being jailed for life for the murder of retired schoolteacher Marjorie Keating.

She was beaten to death in the hallway of her home on Millennium Day, during a burglary which went wrong.

It is thought the pensioner confronted the intruder, possibly recognising him as a bogus milkman who had conned her out of £13 five days earlier.

The Echo appealed to its readers to help catch the killer.

The paper exclusively interviewed Mrs Keating's grieving elderly sisters, and their heartfelt plea, published alongside details of the reward, struck a chord with many readers who rang police with clues.

In particular, one person named Greenwood as the killer, and soon afterwards he was charged with her murder after the pensioner's blood was found on his trainer.

Senior police have admitted that without the Echo reader's tip-off, the killer may have slipped through the net.

Detective Superintendent Russ Walsh said: "The caller felt compelled to contact us with their suspicions after reading the Echo article.

"The article featuring Mrs Keating's two sisters highlighted the enormity and vileness of the crime.

"One piece of information, from someone who wishes to remain anonymous, enabled the inquiry to be streamlined and for us to focus on the person who proved to be Mrs Keating's killer."

Echo editor Mark Dickinson said: "This was a very good example of the police, the Echo and the community working together to put a violent criminal where he belongs - behind bars.

"The crime shocked everyone in Merseyside and we are delighted to have helped make our streets safer and allowed Mrs Keating's family to grieve in the knowledge that justice has been done."

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