One of the last photographs of Alan Holmes – taken on Christmas Day in 1995

SO we reach 30 years – 30 years of appeals, 30 years of hoping justice will one day catch up on a murderer.

While it may no longer be a priority among London’s police chiefs – most of them hadn’t even joined the force at the time of the crime – the New Journal asks the question every year: Who killed Alan Holmes?

The 53-year-old died after being tied to his own bed by an intruder at his home and left to die.

There he lay, in the Twixmas days of 1995, undiscovered while his killer milked his bank account.

Understandably, this case was headline news in London at the start of 1996 – and detectives vowed to quickly solve the mystery, not least because Mr Holmes had a job working as a mechanic on the Met’s own panda cars.

But one week turned into one month, and soon enough the New Journal was printing an appeal for information on the first anniversary, the second, the third and now here we are at the 30th.

There are crimes that have been cracked decades later due to a change of loyalty, a break in a wall of silence or a DNA clue – maybe Mr Holmes’ death could be another.

He had visited friends on Christmas Day in 1995 – the picture on this page being taken over dinner – and returned home to his flat in Parkway, Camden Town.

Alan Holmes was still alive when he was found eight days later

It was fateful that he was the last tenant still living in the block, which was due to be redeveloped. This meant nobody could hear a cry for help. As the hours ticked into Boxing Day, the intruder or intruders broke in and strapped him face down to the bed, so tightly he had no means of escape.

Silver picture frames were taken from his home and his bank card. It is believed he was forced to say his PIN code number. Around £1,000 was taken from cashpoints.

While everybody else was enjoying the December holiday, Mr Holmes lay there tied to his bed, starving and suffering from dehydration. It was only when he did not return to work at Kentish Town police station in the New Year that police broke down his door and found him on January 4.

He was still alive, and tried to recount what happened, but passed away in hospital the following day.

The best description of two suspects said they were two men in their 20s – who would now be in their 50s or 60s and maybe tucking into a turkey dinner tomorrow in the belief that the ghosts of Christmas past will never catch up.

Maybe they will read this week’s paper and at least feel a little uncomfortable that the case has not been entirely forgotten. Perhaps this article may even prompt the Met to issue a wider 30-year appeal. Long gone are the days when the case featured on shows like the BBC’s Crimewatch.

His sister Susan Yule told the programme a month after Mr Holmes’ death: “Just the idea of him suffering when I was trying to contact him – it seems so cruel. It’s something that I think will haunt me for the rest of my days.”

Even 30 years on, anybody with information can still contact the Met’s cold case team.