She was our golden girl

The family have spoken of the bright, lovable teenager who was always willing to help others, no matter who they were.

Her distraught father Malcolm said: "Rachel was so unassuming. It didn't matter what colour, creed or religion you were - she would treat everyone the same."

And to Jane, she was the typical younger sister, always pinching her clothes and make-up to look her best to go out in.

Jane said: "Rachel was always borrowing my clothes and make-up. If I could never find some clothing, you could guarantee Rachel was wearing it.

"I used to go mad with her. But that means nothing now."

Rachel's family are still struggling to come to terms with their beautiful daughter's death, and regularly go to St Matthew's Church to remember the teenager whose life was so tragically cut short by Hughes.

Rachel's first boyfriend, David Kay, has also spoken of his heartache at losing the girl with a heart of pure gold.

Her death has left a huge hole in his heart and even though the pair parted, he still wears her engagement ring on a chain around his neck as a memento.

He said: "I miss her terribly. She meant the world to me. If she was still here I would marry her."

Everyone remembers Rachel as the girl who was always smiling. The girl who would do anything for anyone.

David and Rachel met at school in 1992 in the playground and two years later the couple eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend.

They got engaged in 1996 and although their relationship did not work out, they still remained loyal friends.

He said: "I would give anything to have her back."

Nineteen-year-old David said they would take long walks in Bradford's surrounding countryside and spend hours just talking. She would write him love poems and they would talk about a future together.

When the relationship didn't work out, Rachel was heartbroken. But they remained close friends and David says he still has wonderful memories of his first love.

"She had a heart of gold, pure gold," he said. "Rachel was so warm and kind. She was the sort of person who would give anyone a chance, no matter who they were."

David went to Leeds Crown Court for the first day of the trial, but couldn't stand being in the same place as the man who had brutally murdered her.

"I had to get out of there," he said. "It was just too hard.

"When I found out that Rachel was murdered I couldn't believe it. I had nightmares for two weeks. I just couldn't take it in.

"Rachel didn't hurt anyone. Why did Hughes hurt her?"

David met Hughes' son Carl several times when the Wakefield man started going out with Rachel.

"Carl loved Rachel, I'm sure of that," he said. "She was happy. She was gleaming all the time and she loved him."

But when Carl began an affair with a woman in Castleford, Rachel was devastated.

David believes the night Rachel was killed she was going to Wakefield to finish the relationship.

"We knew each other inside out and I'm certain she was going to end it with Carl that night," he said.

"She knew he was having an affair and she would only take so much."

Rachel grew up in Undercliffe, Bradford, and was a pupil at Wellington First and Middle Schools. The family then moved to Bankfoot and Rachel went to Priestman Middle School and Grange Upper School.

She left school and desperately wanted to work as a hairdresser and beauty therapist. On Saturday, September 6, last year she was due to sign up for a course at Dixon's City Technology College.

A keen churchgoer, Rachel loved going to St Matthew's Parish Church at the end of Carr Bottom Road, just yards from her house.

The Reverend John Turner, who has been with the Barraclough family throughout the murder trial, said: "She is remembered by many for her sense of fun and enjoyment and her sense of humour. At times she could appear quiet, almost diffident.

"Always first to offer help, she took part in the nativity plays and other pieces of drama in our Sunday services. On occasion she read the Bible in church, she sang with the singing group and served coffee after the service."

Rachel was confirmed in St Matthew's in October 1994.

Rev Turner said: "Her thoughtful contributions in the preparation group were appreciated. In the year or so before she was killed, we saw less of her, but were always pleased to see her.

"Over the last difficult year our memories of her and the faith we shared have helped us get through."

While waiting to study at Dixon's, Rachel worked at Unique Images, Dudley Hill, in the gift-wrapping department. Although she was only there a few months, she made an impact with her work colleagues.

Chris Mallows, Rachel's manager at Unique Images, said: "She was a hard-working and consciousness girl.

"Rachel kept herself to herself. She was one of those girls who was very quiet, but people liked her.

"It was a shock and a tragedy to everyone when we heard what happened.

"People still talk about her with fondness today and she is sorely missed."

Lured to her death by man of pure evil

Evil Stephen Hughes subjected Rachel Barraclough to a sexual assault before horrifically knifing her to death on wasteland in Wakefield.

Then, as the pretty 18-year-old lay dead, he calmly stole her overnight bag and ran off with the money from her purse.

But the neighbours of Hughes, who was branded as "wicked" by Judge Mr Justice Holland, knew him as an ordinary family man.

One of the residents of Stanley Street, Wakefield, where Hughes lived with his wife and sons, said: "I have known Stephen and his wife Irene for more than 20 years. I've seen their youngsters grow up. With the whole family it has been a smile, a wave and always a friendly hello."

The night Rachel became involved with Hughes's son Carl signalled the end of her short life.

The 18-year-old's family could not understand why their churchgoing daughter began a relationship with jobless Carl, who was from a run-down council estate in Wakefield.

He rarely spoke when he visited their Bradford home, but talked on the phone to her so much they had to install a payphone.

Rachel had everything to offer, being on the verge of a career in beauty therapy and hairdressing. But Rachel's family saw no future in the relationship with Carl Hughes - and tragically they were proved right.

When Rachel's body was found, her boyfriend was the prime suspect and was put through hours of police questioning.

But it was his father who lured Rachel to her death on the promise of smoothing things over with his son.

Stephen Hughes, breakfast chef at the Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield, who slept apart from his wife, was overcome with jealousy that his son was having a sexual relationship. The Mormon, who rarely went out drinking and kept himself to himself, had been brought up in Wakefield.

His relationship with Irene had deteriorated over the last few years.

When Carl finished with Rachel and started seeing another woman, Hughes saw it as the ideal time to put into place his evil scheme.

Rachel trusted Hughes - and he betrayed her.

Hughes forced himself on Rachel but she struggled. The lust for his son's girlfriend developed into rage and he stabbed her while she lay on the ground and finally slit her throat.

As Hughes was led away from the dock yesterday to begin his life sentence, it was two families whose lives lay in ruins.

His frail wife Irene, who has lost four stones since her husband's arrest, collapsed.

As ambulance staff revived her Elaine Fox, who works for the support group SOFA (Serious Offenders Family Aftermath), said she was deeply distressed.

"She is very shocked. She has been living with this for 12 months. When it's the man you love in the dock it's not easy."

She said Carl, who waited with his brother as the jury deliberated, was very upset.

"He is trying to grasp the fact that his father has just been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend."

Speaking after the trial Detective Superintendent John Holt said: "My first thoughts are for Rachel's family who have had to endure a traumatic 12 months.

"It was a particularly horrendous offence. From the outset it was apparent that Rachel knew her killer. What makes it a more horrendous offence was the planning that went into it.

"Hughes preyed on a young girl he knew would trust him. The judge summed up the murder perfectly - wicked and callous. Hughes showed no remorse at any stage."

Moment I knew Rachel was dead

Jane Barraclough's heart sank when she saw two detectives walking up the garden path.

And their knock at the door was to change the Barracloughs' lives forever.

Jane, right, Rachel's elder sister, said: "I knew then that Rachel was dead.

"They showed me their identification and from the looks on their faces I knew.

"Mum and dad were out shopping and I was panicking. They said they wanted us to go to Wakefield to identify a body.

"I tried to convince myself it was someone else they had found.

"I just expected the police to get in touch and say 'Sorry, we made a mistake. It wasn't Rachel'. But they never did."

Two days earlier, Rachel had rushed out of the family home in Carr Bottom Road, Bankfoot, Bradford, to meet ex-boyfriend Carl Hughes.

Jane, 29, said her younger sister looked lovely and made a special effort. She was wearing her best clothes, as though she was ready for a night out.

"She just said she was going to meet Carl. A taxi came and took her to the Interchange," said Jane.

Later, when Carl continued to telephone their house to ask if Rachel had left, the family were not unduly concerned.

"We just thought she must have changed her mind," said Jane.

"Rachel had mentioned baby-sitting for a friend and we thought nothing was wrong at all."

Saturday was the day of Princess Diana's funeral, which the Barraclough family watched on television and then went into Bradford. Still they thought Rachel was safe.

The next day everyone expected Rachel to walk through the door as she had told her mum she would definitely be back in time for her Sunday lunch.

But she never returned.

Rachel's parents Hilary and Malcolm, 55, who had been shopping, came home to hear the news that was to turn their lives upside down.

And the nightmare was to continue for the family when they suffered a burglary in February this year.

Burglars took Jane's purse containing a 50p piece given to Jane by Rachel the night she was stabbed to death.

One of Rachel's eternity rings and five of her charms for a bracelet were also kept in Jane's purse.

Jane said: "We were able to replace the other stolen things like the video recorder and CDs.

"But we can't replace Rachel's things. They were sentimental and meant so much to us.

"At least they can't steal our memories."

Anguish of the boyfriend son

The son of killer Stephen Hughes has told of his anguish at being barred from the funeral of the girl he loved.

Police told Carl Hughes, 21, that he wasn't welcome when Rachel's family buried their daughter. And officers even told him he couldn't go to her grave and lay flowers there.

Unemployed Carl said: "The police thought it was me. For three weeks they interviewed me. But I had an alibi. Then they went after my dad.

"They wouldn't let me go to the funeral and they said that I couldn't even go to her grave. We were in love and it was terrible coming after her death."

The couple met in Silks night-club, Bradford, at Christmas 1996. They were immediately smitten and Rachel went to Wakefield every weekend.

They talked about marriage and setting up home together. But a week before she was murdered the couple had a row.

Carl said: "It was nothing serious, just a little row. We hadn't called it off or anything."

The 21-year-old was interviewed repeatedly by police who believed he may have been the killer but he had a cast-iron alibi. When the closed circuit television camera pictures from Wakefield bus station were looked at they saw his father pick up the teenager and walk through the city - only to return alone an hour later.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.