A BOURNEMOUTH woman believes she may have got a good look at the brutal killer of Heather Barnett.

Sarah spotted a man cutting a woman's hair on a bus in Bournemouth near to the time of the mother-of-two's violent death.

And she told the Daily Echo: "I would definitely know him if I saw him again."

Sarah (not her real name) was shocked to discover the incident she witnessed is likely to be related to one of the most horrific murders ever carried out in Dorset.

Now 20 years old, she said: "I was 16 at the time and I didn't think too much of it - I just thought it was a bit strange but I didn't think of it as a crime."

Sarah was travelling home from work in Bournemouth town centre just over four years ago on a Yellow Buses service 31 or 32 through Charminster when the incident happened, she said.

"I realised the man had scissors in his hand and as I looked over he cut the hair of the girl sitting in front of him.

"When he saw me looking at him he became uneasy and I started to feel nervous. He got off the bus soon afterwards."

Sarah said she told the girl, who she believed to be around 18 years old, what had happened.

"Bits of her hair were falling out but she said it didn't matter because her mum was a hairdresser. I thought that was a funny thing to say because anyone else I know would have been furious if it had happened to them. I told some of my friends about it but I never thought of telling the police."

It was one of Sarah's friends who contacted detectives after watching the chilling reconstruction and appeal on Crimewatch in September.

"I didn't even see the programme so I was really surprised to hear from the police" said Sarah, who does not want to be identified due to the nature of the case.

"I will do whatever I can to help the police. I didn't think things like this happened in Bournemouth and I keep running over it in my head."