Theories and Unsolved Mystery

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Come see our knowledgeable salespeople to help get you the right air conditioner today On the afternoon of september nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight, a thirteen year old paper boy set off to finish what should have been the final few minutes of his usual newspaper round in the West Midlands It was a route he knew like the back of his hand, one he'd completed countless times before, delivering papers to familiar faces before then heading home for his tea. But one stop along that route would change not only his family's lives forever, but the course of British criminal justice for decades to come When the teenager failed to return home His worried dad went looking for him only to stumble across a major police incident unfolding at a nearby farmhouse Inside, detectives were confronted with a crime scene so shocking, it would trigger one of the biggest murder investigations the region had ever seen Yet despite hundreds of officices, nationwide appeals and years of inquiries, the search for the truth would become far more complicated than anyone could have imagined In this episode of British Murders withith Stuart Blues, we're looking at the murder of Carl Bridgewater It's a case involving a senseless act of violence, one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in modern British history. And a murder that nearly five decades later remains officially Unsolved A quick one before we dive in. If you enjoy the podcast, please make sure you're following British murders on your player of choice. It's a small action, but it has a big impact on how far the Sore travels Ratings and reviews are always appreciated, and if you want to go a step further, you can listen ad free, get episodes a day early, and unlock exclusive content by joining my community at patreon. com forward slash British murders Carl Bridgewater was a thirteen year old boy who lived with his family at twenty five Askot Gardens on the Ashwood Park Estate in Wordsley That's a village just outside Stourbridge in the West Midlands Today, Wordslate blends almost seamlessly into these surrounding Back countountry towns Then it still had much more of a village sort of feel to it It was a kind of place where neighbourors knew each other's business Chren played out until tea time Paper boys were a familiar sight walking or cycling through the streets every afternoon Carl's dad, Brian worked as a maintenance engineer, while his mum Janet was employed as a tea lady at a local crystal factory. which is fitting given the area's long history of glass making. Carl also had a couple of siblings, a fourteen year old sister called Jane and a younger brother called Philip, who was ten Two boys shared a bedroom and were incredibly close Like a lot of brothers, bedtime usually meant chatting for ages when they were supposed to be asleep, much to the chagrin of their parents. They'd lie there talking about school, football, scouts, whatever happened to be on their minds until eventually one of them drifted off Carl was described by everyone who knew him as a smashing lad He was always cheerful, polite and full of life He wasn't loud or attention seeking like some of the other boys were Rather, he was just one of those kids who seemed to get on with everybody he met Quiet well behaved and worked his socks off at Bookpool Comprehensive School, now known as the Wordsley School, where he was in what we'd call year nine today, but back then they called it third form Teachers thought highly of Carl His classmates liked him too And there wasn't really a bad word said about him by anyone And if he wasn't at school, there was a good chance you'd find him in the great outdoors Carl absolutely loved fishing and would happily spend hours sat by the water with a rod in his hand. ball was another passion of his He dreamed of making the school team and gave it everything he had but we never quite managed to make it That didn't stop him playing with his mates on the nearby park whenever he got the chance though Rueported Wolverampton wanderers or wolves as they're more commonly known plenty of young football fans, he'd put together his own scrap book filled with photographs he collected over the years, as well as old matchdayay programmes from Games I Ganta There wasn't anything fancy, just bits and pieces he gathered over time. But it meant the world to him Based upon my research, scouting was probably the biggest part of Carl's life outside school progressed through cubs before joining the second Wesley Scout troupe and couldn't wait to become a scout before joining Once he did, he threw himself into it completely Wednesday evenings were reserved for scouts and he rarely missed a meeting He'd even become a patrol leader, something he was incredibly proud of. His fellow scouts had nicknamed him the Mighty Atam Because Carl was quite small for his age, but made up for it by being quick on his feet and always full of energy Canoeing was his favorite scouting activity there Although we seemed happy to have a go at just about anything His younger brother Philip looked up to him as he'd expect from a little brother and was following the same path as Carl through cubs, hoping one day to join the Scout troop too At home, Carl had a pet pigeon called Popeye and was known for always making time for younger children around the estate He wasn't the sort of lad that would ignore them or tell them to go away, thinking you're too cool to hang around with the younger kids He'd happily stop for a chat or kick a football around with him for a bit if requested. The Bridgewater family also loved taking holidays to Aber Rist withith on the Welsh coast Carla spepeciala enjoyed those trips and during one visit bought himself a model glider kit It's one of those little memories that probably didn't seem important at the time, but later became something his family would never forget. That model would become a lasting memory of their son By september nineteen seventy eight, Carl had also started earning a bit of pocket money For around two months, he'd worked as a paper boy for Davies's news agents on Wordleys High Street, which was owned by married couple Charlie and Kathleen Davies. It was a job Carl took incredibly seriously. Every weekday he'd be out before half past six in the morning delivering newspapers before school Once his lessons had finished, he'd head back out to complete the afternoon round All told, he delivered twenty four newspapers across Lwnswood Road, Hunter's Ride, Londswood Drive, and Presswood Road during that afternoon round, getting from place to place on his bicycle For all that effort, Car earned three pound fifty a week, which works out at around twenty pounds in today's mononeyet Not exactly a fortune, but for a thirteen year old in the late nineteen seventies It wasn't bad going Charlie Davies later said Carl was one of his most dependable paperboys After finishing the second and final round of the day, Carl would head home, get stuck into his homework, and usually be in bed by half past nine barely watch TV because the simply it wasn't time and he wasn't that interested in it Although if he did get the chance, Starskin Hutch was apparently his go to program of choice Everything I've learned about Karl suggested he was a happy, ordinary teenager with his whole life ahead of him Then came Tuesday, september nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight Carl arrived at Davy's news agents to collect the afternoon papers in particularly high spirits considering where he'd just been. dentist had occurred after school that day, which had put him around half an hour behind schedule. But if anything, it seemed even more cheerful than usual. Charlie later remembered the pair laughing and joking together before Carl climbed onto his bike and headed off on his round The dentist appointment turned out to be one of those tiny moments that changes everything Because normally, Carl would have completed the paper round alongside his best friend Because he'd been delayed, he set off a loan, which undoubtedly saved his friend's life. His route was almost finished when he arrived at a place called Uwtree Farm on Prestwood Road near Stourbridge The farm was home to seventy nine year old Mary Poole and her seventy six year old cousin, Fred Jones Fred had spent more than four decades farming in Shropshire before the pair moved to Utree Farm in around nineteen seventy three As both residents struggled with their mobility, Karl had been given special instructions by his bosses Instead of posting the newspaper through the letter box as he typically would, he was told to go around to the back door, let himself in, and leave a copy of the Express and Stan newspaper on a chair just inside It had become part of his normal routine and he was happy to go out of his way for the loyal customers After the farm, he only had two newspapers left to deliver before heading home And sometime around four o'clock the afternoon Cl enter the farmhouse Investigators later believed he'd interrupted a group of burglars who were attempting to break into the place What happened over the next few moments remains known only to Karl and the people responsible Police believe the intruders forced the thirteen year old into the living room before one of them raised a shotgun and fired at Carl from around three feet away. Blast struck him in the side of the head, killing him instantly. Detectives found no evidence that Carl had struggled with his attackers And the officer leading the investigation, Detective Chief suuperintendent Bob Stewart, described it as a completely cold blooded killing Home, time slowly ticked by Cal should have been home by around twenty to five So when twenty to six came and there was still no sign of him, his dad Brian started to worry After Taking his daughter Jane with him, he got in his car and drove Carl's usual paper round route, hoping he'd perhaps had a puncture on his bike or stopped to chat with someone As they approached Utree Fm, Brian noticed several police vehicles gathered near the entrance pulled over and asked one of the officers if they'd happened to see a paper boy. Ply chilled him been an incident, he was informed. At around half past five that early evening, a friend of Mary and Fred's had arrived at the farmhouse Dr. Angus MacDonald, a chest physician, had called in to see the cousins who were actually out visiting friends that afternoon r MacDonald noticed the door standing open And as he called out without getting a reply, he walked inside. When he entered the living room, he found Carl lying dead on the sofa He rushed from the farmhouse to raise the alarm. And before long, the quiet country lane outside Utree Farm was flooded with police cars What had started as a missing paperboy inquiry had in the space of minutes, become a murder investigation. At first, more than fifty officers were assigned to the case, but it very quickly became obvious this wasn't going to be solved overnight The investigation soon doubled in size and then some, with one hundred plus officers working the inquiry helped by detectives from the Regional Crime squad One of the first priorities was tracing a light blue estate car, believed to be either a Ford Escort or a Ford Cortina Witnesses reported seeing it parked in the farm's driveway at around half past four that afternoon, not long after a car was believed to have arrived There wasn't much to go on but it was a start Dectives also began knocking on doors across the area, speaking to anyone who might have seen something unusual They also checked shotgun certificate holders throughout the surrounding villages, hoping to identify anyone with access to the sort of deadly weapon used to kill Karl. Inside Uree Farm, forensic teams work methodically through every room The entire house had been searched and ransacked by the intruders, making it clear that robbery had been the motive, at least initially It also appeared pretty certain that more than one person had been involved Ballistic experts examined the living room where Carl had died, while forensic officers searched every inch of the farmhouse and the surrounding land for anything the killers might have left behind but the location itself posed another frustrating problem Utree Farm sat only a few yards from the busy A four hundred forty nine, the main road linking Kiddermminster and Wolver Aampton Hundreds of motorrs passed it every day, so detectives appealed to anyone who'd driven along the A four hundred for nine or nearby Lawnswood Lane that Tuesday afternoon to come forward, hoping somebody had noticed a suspicious vehicle or some unfamiliar faces The Wolfverrampton Express and star, the very newspaper Carla been delivering when he was murdered, offered a reward of five hundred pounds for information leading to the conviction of those responsible. That's the equivalent of roughly twenty thousand eight hundred pounds today when adjusted for inflation Some national newspapers quickly followed, with the Daily mirror offering five grand, the Daily Express putting up two grand, and the suun adding another one grand Altogether, the reward fund reached around ten thousand pounds, which would be worth something close to fifty six thousand today Special appeal posters carrying Cal's photograph were printed and distributed across the Midlands in the hope that somebody somewhere knew something Lack at Davy's news agent, life had to go on Although it was anything but normal Charlie simply couldn't bring himself to send another young paper boy along the route where Carl had lost his life So instead, he delivered those twenty four newspapers as the investigation was ongoing It was his way of making sure none of the other youngsters on his payroll were put in the same position As the days passed, something rather unusual happened People from Birmingham's criminal underworld began contacting the Express and star, saying they were disgusted by what had happened to Carl and that they wanted to help DCS Stewart didn't dismiss the offers either. He openly invited members of the crriminal fraternity to come forward promising any information would be treated in confidence I mean, when even hardened criminals are saying they've no stomach for what had happened, it tells you just how universally condemned this murder was We're going to take an ad break here. When we return, we'll continue to discuss that initial police investigation of nineteen seventy eight See you soon There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature Discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with all trails. Download the free app today and find your outside Save more on what you need to get the job done right. Right now, add Lowe's. Get fifteen percent off, select custom entry and interterior doors. Plus, save eighty dollars on the Dealult twenty Volt Max two tool combo kit, now just one hundred sixty nine dollars. And at the Low's Pro desesk, bring us your materials list and get a quote in minutes. Handwritten, a photo, or even a sticky note is all you need. Keep your jobs moving faster and on budget And lows. Valid through seven eight. while supplies last. Selection is by location. Hi, I'm Greg Richard. It's hot out there. Chill out with a new air conditioner from PC Richard and Sun. thousandousands in stock, every size, every BTU. Plus, we guarantee the lowest prices. PC Richard and Sun, the company you can trust Summer is here, which means we all want to look and feel our best. A GLP one may be right for you. Visit orderlymeds dot com to learn more about which GLP one you could be eligible for. Getting started is fast, easy and happens virtually through telemedicine from licensed professionals. Check it out for yourself. Go to orderlymeds dot com slash podcastot That's orderlymeds dot com slash podcast Taking care of yourself feels great. CompAat medications are not FDA approved eligibility required and determined by licensed provider and individual results may vary you website for details The investigation soon began to focus on exactly what had been stolen from the farmhouse And to tell you the truth, it wasn't exactly the hall of the century Among the missing items were a copper kettle worth around seventy five pounds at the time That's about four hundred and twenty one pounds a day An earthenware jug and basin. couple of antique teapots and various other pieces of old brassware. Police also searched antique dealers and known feners across the Midlands, believing the stolen antiques may have already been passed on. After that, an interesting development occurred Several of the stolen items, including the copper kettle and an oval brooch belonging to Mary Poole, were found dumped in undergrowth in a nearby paddock Whoever had taken them had apparently decided they weren't worth a bother after all It's because they knew the items now link them to the murder of Carl Even so, other antiques remained missing, including an unusual nineteenth century bed wararming pan Unlike most bed warmers of the time, which held hot coals, this rare example was designed to hold hot water instead, which was revolutionary in its day When you look at everything that happened, it's difficult not to shake your head Because a thirteen year old boy had been murdered in cold blood And for what? handful of antiques that in many cases weren't even kept Carl's Orange bicycle was discovered nearby because someone had thrown it over a wall into a yard, apparently hoping it wouldn't be found straight away It felt like a clumsy attempt to buy themselves a little more time before anybody realized Carl was missing Th came what looked like one of the biggest breakthrough so far Dectives recovered a spent shotgun cartridge close to Utree Farm. Investigators believed it had probably been thrown from the killer's vehicle as they fled the scene And better still, it contained a number of fingerprints For a moment, it looked as though the investigation might be about to gather some real momentum And just four days after the murder on september twenty third, police launched a nationwide manhunt after receiving some information from an underworld informant. The anonymous caller had contacted detectives after reading newspaper reports about Kyl's murder and named a gang he believed could be responsible Whether the information was accurate remained to be seen couldn't afford to ignore it Just over a week after Car was killed, the investigation took another unexpected turn Police traveveled all the way down to Brighton on England's south coast after receiving reports that brassware had been found abandoned in a children's play area A member of the public had spotted two antique pokers and a pair of fire tongs lying on the ground a few days earlier and thought nothing of it until hearing about the murder inquiry has then published a police photo fit of a man thought to have been involved in the shooting The description came from a motorist who believed he'd come face to face with the gang as they left Utree Farm. He'd been sitting in traffic at the end of the farm lane when a light blue estate car caught his attention It appeared to be waiting for a gap before pulling on Tlonswood lane Inside, he believed there were at least three men But one in particular stood out. The witness described him as being in his forties with thick dark hair, wearing a dark jacket and tie Thousands of copies of the photofit were circulated. But once again, nothing concrete emerged On september twenty seventh, Wordsley came together to say their goodbyes to young Carl Around a thousand mourners packed Holy Trinity Church for his funeral and the Reverend Arthur Williams told the congregation there had been an encouraging response to police appeals Many hoped it would only be a matter of time before Karl's killers were caught After the service, Karl's scout leaders carried his coffin from the church to the cemetery. where he was laid to rest on a hillside overlooking the town he'd called home It was a heartbreaking final journey for a boy who'd barely begun his teenage years When Tober arrived, detectives continued chasing every lead they could find Police in Derby contacted the investigation team after a series of robberbies there appeared remarkably similar to what had happened at Utree Farm Thankfully, nobody had been murdered But the similarities were striking nonetheless In one case, an eighty one year old woman had been held prisoner while two men searched a cottage in Eggington In another, a similarly aged woman slept through a burglary in which silverware, jewelry and antiques worth more than a thousand pounds disappeared Both were isolated properties occupied by vulnerable women And the thieves on each occasion appear to be searching specifically for antiques, just like at Utree Farm It certainly raised the possibility that whoever had killed Carl was still out there committing armed robberies Another promising development soon followed, when a shotgun was recovered from the Rriver seven by police frogmen and civilian divers The river passed within about a mile of Uwtree farm, leading investigators to wonder whether the murder weapon had been thrown into the water during the killer's escape The gun was sent to the forensic science lab in Nottingham for testing And while that was going on, another search began in the canal at Pencridge after two men were reportedly seen throwing an object into the water late one evening. The tip had come from a member of the public and detectives weren't prepared to dismiss it Meanwhile, around forty volunteer divers from the Wolfruner Sub Aqua Club spent an entire weekend searching rivers and canals within half a mile of the murder scene By the middle of October, the investigation suddenly shifted towards Birmingham, as several figures connected to England's second city's criminal underworld were interviewed Most were quickly ruled out, but detectives said the inquirrs had produced several promising new leads that they were actively pursuing At the same time, fingerprint experts at Birmingham's crriminal Records office worked through thousands upon thousands of records, desperately trying to match the prints recovered at Uree Farm with those already held on file On october nineteenth, what looked like the biggest breakthrough yet came to the police's attention Officers in Wakefield announced they were holding three men on behalf of the Staffordshire detectives investigating Carl's murder previous evening, officers had descended on a traveler's caravan site beside a railway embankment on the outskirts of the town Just after eleven PM, several police cars arrived and surrounded a white caravan before carrying out an extensive search. Well, the residents later said officers remained there for around eleven hours before leaving with two brothers and their dad Various items were also removed from the caravan Yet despite the police's suspicions, some fellow travelers described the family as decent people One neighbour even remarked rather randomly that if a stray dog was in trouble, they'd be the first to help it The three men were taken to police stations in Gwsbury and Heckmanwite for questioning And the following day, detectives released two new photofits These depicted men believed to have been seen near Uree Farm about an hour before Carl was killed Witnesses reported seeing them walking away from again a light blue Ford estate car while a third man apparently remained behind the wheel. aps we're to act as the getaway driver It felt as though the investigation was finally closing in except for the fact that all three men arrested in Wakefield were then released without charge Once again, detectives found themselves back at square one But some fresh information quickly pointed investigators towards Telford after another underworld contact came forward DCS Stewart described the intelligence as promising. Although prostrinly, it too failed to lead anywhere Police also appealed to Trace's two teenage fishermen who a passing workmen had seen standing beside a white fence outside Utree Fm at around three o'clock on that fateful afternoon roughly just over an hour before Cal's murder Detectives hope the two teens might have witnessed something important without realizing it. Next in another strange twist, this story is full of them teique dealer, who'd previously been questioned and eliminated from the inquiry, was found dead inside his car near Sutton on Trent in Nottinghamshire The man was fifty year old David Carey Smith And he resembled one of the published photo fits which explained why police had spoken to him in the first place He was no longer considered a suspect after that and his death turned out to be unrelated to Carl's murder But it was yet another bizarre chapter in an investigation already full of dead ends Amid all the heartbreak, Carl's memory was also inspiring something positive Kathleen Davies from the newews agents where Carl had worked launched an appeal fund in his honor By late october nineteen seventy eight, it had already raised around three point fivealf thousand pounds of its five thousand pound target The money wasn't intended for his family, however, Instead, it would be used to buy a kidney dialysis machine for Wordsley Hospital creating something lasting in Carl's name By early November, detectives were considering an extraordinary step. They announnce plans to fingerprint more than a million men across the West Midlands Any male between the ages of eighteen and sixty five could potentially be asked to provide fingerprints at their own front door which gives you some idea of just how desperate the investigation had becomome Papers then reported that a bllue Ford Cortina estate car had been pulled from the river Tyne in the northeast of England Given how important this mystery blue estate car had become to the investigation, detectives quickly examined it But it was ruled out almost immediately, because the vehicle had clearly been underwater for far too long to have anything to do with Cal's murder Concerning lates, similar armed robberies continued across the country Robbers use shotguns, targeted isolated farmhouses occupied by residents in the seventies and above And it was all in the hope of acquiring some antiques to sell. Close to the end of November, Chapel farm near Hales Owen, which is only about eight miles from Utree Farm, was raided by armed robbers Inside were four older residents, all of whom were physically vulnerable Unlike at Utree Farm, they survived, but there was still assaulted during the robber reinforcing detectives' fears that the same violent gang might still be operating Before the year was out, there was another sad development. Mary Poole, one of the residents of Utree Farm, suffered a stroke and died in december nineteen seventy eight at the age of seventy nine She never lived to see just how complicated, controversial and deeply flawed the investigation into Karl's murder was about to become For three months, the search for his killer had boundnced from one lead to another Hundreds of officers had followed thousands of inquiries Reward money had poured in, and photo fits had been circulated across the country Divers had searched rivers and canals, fingerprints had been compared, cars had been traced. And some suspects had even been arrested only to be released. And still, nobody had been charged with Carl Bridgewater's murder That all changed before the year was out or at least it appeared to. On december twenty eighth, Staffordshire pololice announced they'd charged a man with Carl's murder His name was Patrick Malloy Malloy was fifty years old He was unemployed, a father of five children and described as having no fixed abode. He'd actually come onto the police's radar following the armed robbery at Chapel Farm, which I mentioned a moment ago the very robberate that bore such striking similarities to what had happened at Utree Farm Two months after Cal's murder, Mai had been arrested in connection with that offence And on december tenth, detectives claimed he'd made an extraordinary statement According to police, Malloy admitted he had been at Utree Farm on the afternoon car was killed, claiming he'd been upstairs in one of the bedrooms when the fatal shot was fired Crucially, he also gave detectives the name of three other men. he said had been there with him If his information was true, It was the breakthrough investigators had been searching for Malloy appeared before Sizdon Magistrates' courourt for a brief hearing before being remanded into custody. appppearing again a week later on january fourth, nineteen seventy nine At the time he was jointly charged alongside others with Cal's murder and an unrelated burglary at the Tamwth Cooperative Society's Butchery department, where more than eight hundred pounds had been stolen just days after Carl's death Call it just shy of five grand in today's money Detectives continued questioning the three other men Malai had named And it didn't take long before charges followed On january thirteenth, police announced a second man had been charged with Karl's murder twenty four year old Vincent James Hickkey was a builder from Birmingham, who was living in Redditich at the time of his arrest, and he faced the same charges as Malloy During the first week of February, two more men stood before the court. seeventeen year old Michael Hicke, Vincent's cousin, who was an unemployed labouorer And forty five year old builder James Robinson, known to his friends simply as Jim Together, the four defendants would become known as Bridgewater four They weren't saints by any means, having committed their fair share of armed robberies But were they guilty of the crime they had been charged with The murder of Carl Many people believe the case had been solved after those four men were taken into custody because they appear to fit what detectives already suspected A gang of men carrying out armed burglaries at isolated farmhouses onene of which was interrupted by an unfortunate paper boy who was quickly silenced with a shotgun It seemed plausible But as we'd later learn, plausible and proven are two very different things We're going to take a final ad break here When we return, we'll discuss the trial of the Bridgewater four before continuing with the rest of the story Don't go anyway There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature Discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with all trails. Download the free app today and find your outside. I'm Greg Richard. It is hot outside and now it's time to cool down. At PC Richard and Sun, we have the largest selection of air conditioners all at the guaranteed lowest prices. Come see our knowledgeable salespeople to help get you the right air conditioner today Summer is here, which means we all want to look and feel our best. A GLP one may be right for you. Visit orderlymeds dot com to learn more about which GLP one you could be eligible for. Getting started is fast, easy, and happens virtually through telemedicine from licensed professionals. Check it out for yourself. Go to orderlymeds dot com slash podcast. That's orderlymeds dot com d Sash podcast. Taking care of yourself feels great. CompATed medications are not FDA approved eligibility required and determined by licensed provider individual results may vary you your website for details Here's a tip for you. 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Welcome back The trial began in october nineteen seventy nine And from the outset, the jury of nine men and three women were confronted with some deeply distressing evidence Among the exhibits were graphic crime scene photos showing Carl's bodody lying on the blood soaked sofa inside the living room at Utree Farm Close up images of the devastating shotgun wound were also shown in court Just imagine having to sit through those images I don't know about you, but I'd struggle with photographs of that ilk involving adult victims Child. Honestly, I can't imagine what it must have been like for those jurors to have to see that With all four defendants denying murdering Karl, the prosecution's case relied heavily on a series of alleged confessions The most damaging supposedly came from the youngest defendant, Michael Hickkeck Jurors heard evidence from a fellow prisoner who claimed Michael had confessed while on remand According to that witness, Michael had said The lad was crying his eyes out and howling. I had to shut him up. Another prisoner also claimed to have asked Michael outright whether he'd committed the murder He alleged that Michael initially denied it before quietly replying Bet these four walls I did it there was another problem though Robinson had apparently confessed as well Another inmate claimed Robinson admitted that he had been the one who pulled the trigger In other words, two different defendants had supposedly confessed to being the gunman. which led to the prosecution accepting that they couldn't actually say for sure who had fired the fatal shot Yet, despite those inconsistencies, the jury returned its verdict On november ninth, nineteen seventy nine, all four men were found guilty of Carbridgewater's murder while also being convicted of aggravated burglary Three days later, mr. Justice Drake passed their sentences Vincent Hickey and James Robinson were jailed for life, with a recommendation that each serve at least twenty five years Because Michael Hicky had only been seventeen at the time of the offence, he was ordered to be detained at herer Majesty's pleasure, effectively an indefinite sentence. Patrick MallLoy, on the other hand, received a different outcome. The judge said he believed Malloy had shown some spark of remorse and accepted a plea to manslaughter. for which he received a twelve year prison sentence The public now largely believed that justice had been done and that Carl's killers were behind bars To them, the case was closed The only problem with that belief was that the wrong men had been sent down for Carl's murder Patrick MallLoy never lived to see what would happen next, because in june nineteen eighty one, less than two years into his sentence, he suffered a heart attack while imprisoned at Gartree, a maximum security prison in Leicestershire He was fifty three years old Just months after Malllloy's death, the first appeal of the three surviving prisoners reached the court of appeal. In november nineteen eighty one, the convictions were challenged before Lord Chief Justice Lane One argument centered around another possible suspect. A man named Hubert Spencer, also known as Bur, worked as an ambulance controller at Corbet Hospital in Stourbridge and lived close to Utree Farm He also owned a blue Vauxall Viva which is important to note because one witness had reported seeing a similar car being driven by a man wearing what appeared to be a uniform on the day Car was murdered. court wasn't persuaded. and Lord Lane dismissed the suggestion of Spencer's involvement as nothing more than a red herring With that, the conviction stood and the years proceeded to roll on On the inside, the hickey cousins became increasingly desperate. In february nineteen eighty three, they climbed onto the roof of the prison in protest, demanding somebody reopen their case And just a couple of months later, there appeared to be some glimmer of hope The home seecretary ordered a fresh investigation after allegations emerged that another convicted murderer had confessed to killing Karl During that period, criticism aimed at Staffordshire police and the way they'd handled the investigation was also examined crriticisms were ultimately rejected. and nothing changed regarding the three men's sentences. Michael Higgy's protest then became increasingly dramatic On november twenty fourth, nineteen eighty three, he climbed onto the roof of Gartrie Prison and remained there until february twenty first, nineteen eighty four. A period of almost three months set what was believed to be a record for a prison rooftop protest. He simply refused to let the case be forgotten Eventually, after years of campaigning, the case returned to the courourt of Appeal October nineteen eighty seven, Home Secretary Douglas Heard referred it back for another hearing This second appeal lasted an incredible forty one days, making it the longest criminal appeal in English legal history at the time Supporters hope the convictions would finally be overturned But instead, on march seventeenth, nineteen eighty nine, after more than six hours spent reading their judgment aloud Th three court of appeal judges dismissed it As the judges finished speaking, emotions boiled over. Robinson shouted You don't know your asses from your elbows Vincent Hickey threw his worry beads towards Mr. Justice Leonard before yelling You need these more than me. We're innocent Despite the outburst, the men were led back to prison And a few months later, in july nineteen eighty nine, They were refused permission to take the case to the House of Lords. That was another door slammed firmly shut in their faces In february nineteen ninety three, Home Secretary Kenneth Clark also declined to send the case back for yet another appeal So it well and truly looked as though that was the end of the line for the three men But outside the prison walls, support for the remaining members of the Bridgewater fourV continued to grow By the mid nineties, TV documentaries, investigative journalists and even debates in Parliament had begun questioning whether the right men had ever been convicted One issue in particular kept resurvicing During the original investigation, another set of fingerprints had reportedly been found on Kyal's bicycle printince had never been disclosed to the defense In november nineteen ninety four, the High Court ordered Home Secretary Michael Howard to release documents relating to the earlier decision not to refer the case Throughout nineteen ninety five, campaigners argued the conviction should be looked at again, and Michael Howard said he was not minded to send the case back to the Court of Aeal Solicitors representing the Hickeys along with Robinson, continued making fresh submissions Finally, in july nineteen ninety six, the breakthrough they'd been waiting nearly two decades for Tim. Michael Howard had changed his position. case would return to the Court of Aeal once again When the hearing finally arrived, the picture that emerged was deeply troubling Fresh scientific analysis centered on Milloy's supposed confession Experts concluded that police had almost certainly fabricated one statement in order to pressure another suspect into making an incriminating confession Even more astonishingly, Vincent Hickey's alleged confession appeared to not have come from him at all Court heard had almost certainly been written by Detective Constable Graham Leker Vincent's signature, meanwhile, was found to have been forged by detective constable John Perkins, who had since died The irony was impossible to ignore because neither officer had even been responsible for interviewing Vincent Hickke. He'd been questioned somewhere else by different detectives. prosecution's case had largely rested on Milloy's confession which from the very beginning, he insisted had been forced from him He told his solicitors at the earliest opportunity that police had shown him another suspect's statement during questioning which is something that should never have happened issue wasn't properly explored during the original trial And to make things even more controversial, the document he described had disappeared off the face of the earth This time, the crown didn't try to defend the convictions Jeremy Roberts, QC, appearing for the prosecution, accepted that the original trial had been fundamentally flawed And on those grounds alone, he agreed the convictions were unsafe On february twenty first, nineteen ninety seven, more than eighteen years after Carl was murdered, the remaining three members of the Bridgewater fourV were set to walk free They had spent the best part of two decades in prison for murder they should have never been convicted of The question now wasn't whether a miscarriage of justice had taken place, because it clearly had The real question was one that had been hanging over the case since that September afternoon in nineteen seventy eight If these men hadn't murdered Carl Bridgewater, Who had When a case remains unsolved for nearly half a century People begin filling in the blanks themselves. It's a completely natural human behaviour Theories emerge and rumors spread Books are written, documentaries are made, And before long, it's difficult to separate established fact from mere speculation If you spend any amount of time reading about Carl's murder online, you'll notice one name appears more than any other Bertt Spencer the ambulance controller I mentioned earlier in the staray Over the years, countless people have suggested that Spencer was the man who killed Carl. Some believe the police focused on the wrong suspects from the very beginning Others argue Spencer should never have been ruled out in the first place is definitely one of the most discussed theories surrounding this case Like the Bridgewater F, Spencer himself was no stranger to serious crimes and violence In nineteen eighty, he was convicted at Stafford Crown Court of murdering his supposed friend, a farmer called Hubert Wilkes. The shooting happened during a party celebrating Spencer's fortieth birthday He admitted pulling the trigger