FORTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Hozen Horne is scheduled to be sentenced in the Home Circuit Court on June 29 following his conviction yesterday for the second time over the murder of a 12-year-old girl, 14 years ago.

Horne, a salesman, was first convicted of the murder in 2000 for the drowning death of Leisha Smith. However the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 2008 and ordered a retrial on the ground that the trial judge gave inadequate direction to the jury in relation to the DNA evidence.

Yesterday, a jury deliberated for less than two hours before  convicting the Essex Hall, St Andrew resident also known as ‘Metro Man’.

During the trial, Horne gave an unsworn statement form the prisoner’s dock, denying all the allegations against him.

Witnesses gave evidence that on the night of June 19, 1998, they saw someone in Horne’s motorcar fitting Smith’s age and description.

The child’s partially decomposed body was later found by a fisherman under the Portmore Causeway, St Catherine, with the feet bound.

Forensic analyst formed the view that, based on blood analysis, there was a high degree of certainty that Smith was inside Horne’s house.