ELIZABETH and Doug Bellion have been forced to relive the horror of the brutal murder of their son and his fiance 19-years ago as unfounded stories surfaced last week suggesting a new lead in the unsolved case.

Last week national newspapers and TV news bulletins reported that the murder of Paul Bellion and Lorraine Glasby in Dinan, Brittany in August, 1986 was to be reviewed after new information from a prisoner in France.

But the first Mr and Mrs Bellion heard about this apparently fresh development was a brief report in last week's St Helens Star after we had been contacted by a newspaper in Norfolk. Sadly the stories now seem to be based on three-year-old news but when the Bellions read it, they thought there must have been a more recent bulletin from France.

The couple, both aged 74, from Blackbrook, said it came as another body blow after their hopes were yet again raised. Fighting back tears Mrs Bellion described what happed to their son Paul and Lorraine Glasby in August, 1986: "They were near the harbour about to come home and were kidnapped.

"They were put into the back of an orange Volkswagen van that had been stolen from Germany. Police later found Lorraine's hair in it.

"We don't know how long they were kept in that van for."

Mrs Bellion struggled with the memories that came flooding back. "They were made to kneel, tied back to back and gagged.

"All I can hear before he was gagged was Paul pleading. Then they were both shot in the head. It seemed though as if Lorraine had tried to get away because she was shot in the leg. A man walking his dog found them."

A fluent French speaker, Paul a former pupil at Cowley High School, had lived in Norfolk for fiveyears.

He and Lorraine were both teachers and keen travellers who enjoyed the French countryside and way of life.

Since the murder, Mr and Mrs Bellion said contact with French police has dried up. "I don't think they wanted to know," she said.

The last ray of genuine hope was a letter from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in January 2002, which said that the case had been reopened.

"That was the last we ever heard and it is appalling that these newspapers have dug up old information."

The constant waiting for positive news has drained the family. Mrs Bellion said she often thinks of Helen

McCourt's mother Marie, who has spent 16-years searching for her daughter's body, while Helen's murderer has never accepted his guilt.

"You can't rest. I feel sorry for that lady because at least we can go to the grave. You never recover from something like this. People say we know how you feel, but unless you go through it they don't."

"Something like this can either bring you closer or tears you apart," she said.

"My comfort is having a picture of Paul here," she said pointing to a large portrait on a side table.

"And talking to him in the morning and night-time."

Since the article appeared in the Star, friends and neighbours have stopped the couple to ask if there is any progress.

"They think there's hope. Even friends we haven't seen for years.

"There is always the one question we want to know about Paul's murder - why? They were not a troublesome couple in any way.

"We heard a lot of different stories from the police, from it being a military killing to French terrorists, but it was all guesswork. Ultimately there is nothing new."

Rather than give up hope, as the 19th anniversary approaches, Mr and Mrs Bellion said it was more about learning to deal with it. They say time's a healer. No it isn't, but you adapt."

After Paul died, pupils at his school in Thetford presented his parents with a framed poster of their touching comments about him, which she still keeps to this day.

They also made a sundial in his memory, to stand in school grounds on which was carved the words 'Always Use Your Time.'