FOR THE second time in less than five years Dorset detectives are pinning their hopes on a bloody training shoe footprint leading them to a sick killer.

From a distinctive print found at the Charminster home of mother-of-two Heather Barnett on the day of her horrific death, police and a shoe expert have managed to identify the type of footwear worn by her brutal attacker.

The new lead mirrors another murder enquiry in Bournemouth when a bloody trainer mark led detectives to the killer of DJ Adam Shaw.

Mr Shaw, 31, was stabbed more than 80 times in his Old Christchurch Road sex shop on January 4, 1999.

A training shoe footprint discovered in Mr Shaw's kitchen, where his killer had frantically tried to wash bloodstains from his clothing, was the vital clue detectives needed.

The print was analysed by forensic experts and identified as a distinctive size 12 Adidas off-road shoe with an unusual tread.

Detectives discovered that most had been sold through the Great Universal catalogue chain.

Two months after Adam Shaw's death they began checking the list of buyers, beginning with a dozen homes in Dorset.

Behind the first door was teenage tearaway Terry Gibbs. Tests proved splashes of blood on Gibbs' clothing belonged to Adam Shaw and fabric threads inside his jacket matched those found on the DJ's body.

Two days later, on March 17,the former soldier was arrested and immediately confessed.

In July that year the 19-year-old, who had set out to commit a robbery to pay back a debt, was jailed for life at Winchester Crown Court.

No doubt, the 15 detectives hunting Heather Barnett's killer are hoping their new line of enquiry will bring them the same success.