THE son of a man whose blood soaked body was found at his home 17 years ago has called for police to re-launch their murder hunt.

Horse dealer Leslie Jackson was found beaten to death in the bathroom of his sheltered bungalow in Sussex Drive, Blackburn, in November 1990.

More than 100 officers were brought in to work on the case as part of one of East Lancashire's biggest murder inquiries.

But the 70-year-old's killer - or killers - have never been brought to justice.

Two people were due to go to trial in 2001 but the case was thrown out of court due to weak evidence.

A third man, David Leek, was also implicated but the Crown Prosecution Service were not able to offer any evidence against him.

Mr Leek, of Wellington Street, Accrington, died last Christmas and his mother has claimed that he had never recovered from the trauma of his arrest.

An inquest heard that long-term drug and alcohol abuse contributed to his death.

Peter Jackson, Mr Jackson's son by his second marriage, is now urging police to look into his father's murder again.

Peter, 49, said: "I can't help but think when I am watching these programmes where they solve murders from the 1970s using DNA that something more could be done for my dad.

"It is hard to believe that it can go on for this length of time and for no one to be caught."

Mr Jackson's bungalow appeared to have been ransacked at the time of his death.

He was believed to keep large sums of cash at home and a watch and gold sovereign rings were taken in the raid.

Police visited every jeweller, second-hand and pawn shop in the North West as part of their investigation.

Peter, who now lives in Newquay, added: "When we first came to Cornwall 11 years ago officers came down with some of my father's jewellery that they wanted my daughter to identify.

"She used to sit on his knee and he would say 'this will be yours, this will be your dad's.' "When they showed it to her she recognised it instantly.

"But they went back and we never heard from them again."

Frail pensioner Mr Jackson was battling cancer when he died. Peter, who has recently undergone a triple heart by-pass, said: "He didn't have long to live but for this to happen was awful.

"He died at the same time that Margaret Thatcher resigned so that flooded the news and no-one ever really heard about what happened to him.

"We would like to see it featured on Crimewatch or given a bit more publicity so that someone might come forward with some new information."

Detective Inspector Paul Rudd, from the Major Investigation Team, said: "We are still investigating this case and cold case teams routinely examine unsolved rapes and murders.

"If during the course of this ongoing investigation any significant developments occur, the victim's family would be the first know. We are not planning a feature on Crimewatch at this stage however, if any new evidence comes to light then this is something that we would consider."