[6][7] On Saturday 16 August 1980, the two boys were found beaten and hidden underneath a mattress on a rubbish tip in Whiston, on what is now Stadt Moers Park.

A local man who confessed to the murders and revealed knowledge that apparently only the killer would know was acquitted at trial in 1981.

However, the unsolved case has continued to receive publicity since, becoming the focus of a rare and unusual campaign by Merseyside Police – supported by the victim's families – for reform of Britain's Middle Ages double jeopardy law so that previously acquitted suspects like the man in this case can be questioned again.

[2] Investigators quickly suspected a 20-year-old man named John Cheeseman, who was often seen wandering around the village of Whiston alone and who was described by locals as invariably dressed in baggy jeans and a brown jacket that was several sizes too big for him.

[2] Cheeseman was known to play cards on the street with young boys, and helped out each week at the local Scout hut.

[10] Cheeseman immediately aroused suspicion when being questioned by police the day after the murders by stating a number of things that investigators found to be completely false.

[2] At this point Cheeseman then revealed that he had met two boys (believed to be Greenwood and Miller) but became angry with them as they smashed some bottles and one "gave me the f-word".

"[2]The confession was found to be particularly damning as no one had yet reported a rope had been used and this had not yet been revealed by the pathologist, meaning that Cheeseman had knowledge that only the killer would know.

[2] In 2016, a Sunday Times investigation found that a witness had actually reported seeing "what looked to be red paint" on Cheeseman's clothes when he came to see her that evening.

[12] There was renewed interest in the case in 2003 after the law on 'double jeopardy' was changed with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, allowing re-trials of suspects previously acquitted if 'new and compelling' evidence emerged.

[2] However, because of the laws that existed at the time (before the Criminal Justice Act 2003), this evidence was not admissible in court in 1981 as it was deemed hearsay.

[2] It also emerged that two boys had been with Greenwood and Miller on the afternoon of the murder, goading and insulting Cheeseman until he "snapped" and began chasing them around the estate.

[2] Furthermore, the investigation by The Sunday Times found that a woman had recounted seeing Cheeseman with "what looked like red paint" on his trousers that evening.

[2] The Sunday Times went to interview Cheeseman, still alive in 2016 and still living in Whiston, and found that some of his family members suspected him of involvement, with his older brother disowning him and his two nieces not allowing him to see their children.

[5] Under the 2003 double jeopardy legislation, a previously acquitted suspect can only be interviewed again with a high threshold of new evidence and permission from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

[6] This led Merseyside Police, in a rare move, to call in 2020 for a change in the law so as to allow suspects like Cheeseman to be questioned again, with Assistant Chief Constable Ian Critchley saying: "We know it has to be carefully considered.

[8] The force said that a change in the law would also enable them to potentially solve other cases, with Critchley explaining: "We believe being able to re-question suspects could potentially lead to being able to demonstrate the new and compelling evidence needed to reopen particular cases, including the murders of John Greenwood and Gary Miller".

[8] The family of Greenwood and Miller supported Merseyside Police's campaign as reported nationally on ITV News in February 2020, with Greenwood's sister running a Facebook page on the case and starting an online petition to get the law changed, saying: "This law is in place to prevent possible harassment of a suspect, but we are going through real pain.

[8] On 27 January 1991, the parents of Greenwood and Miller appeared on the Granada TV programme Close to the Edge, which was on the subject of revenge.