A SENIOR officer responsible for the investigation into the death of North Yorkshire bachelor David Williamson said advances in forensic technology could help identify a suspect.

Detective Inspector Kevin Ross told the Evening Press that the inquiry in to the violent death of the Sutton-on-the-Forest villager remains open and will be regularly reviewed by officers and forensic experts.

He said police had exhausted every open line of inquiry, but he believed that someone in the York area held vital knowledge that could breath new life into the painstaking investigation.

"The science of DNA and other forensic techniques continues to progress at some pace and we will ensure that these techniques are used to re-examine the exhibits and samples we have taken," he said. "There is a realistic possibility that science will improve sufficiently for us to take the case forward."

The death of David Williamson remains unsolved after a case against James Payling, 20, of Ripon, collapsed two weeks ago when a judge ruled confessions he made were inadmissible.

After the trial North Yorkshire Police said it would review the way interviews were conducted, although the judge said there was no suggestion of "bad faith" among the officers concerned.

Payling, who pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Williamson in March 2001, cannot face another trial on the same charges because of the "double jeopardy" rule in UK law.

He was sentenced at York Crown Court last year to two years in a young offenders' institution for the offences for which he was originally arrested, including taking a vehicle without consent, dangerous driving and making off without payment. Mr Ross said that it was a "desperate personal disappointment" to him that nobody had been brought to justice, despite enormous public support and the co-operation of the majority of residents in Sutton-on-the-Forest and Huby.

He said: "There has been a full investigation into Mr Williamson's killing and I'm confident we have done everything that we possibly could have. I can think of no single inquiry left that would take the case forward."

He said that he believed "somebody out there" held information that could track down the killer, and that eventually, whether through a guilty conscience or because they had fallen out with somebody they were protecting, they would contact the police.

Updated: 08:55 Monday, August 04, 2003