How the mysterious murder of a 13-year-old boy left Britain perplexed for DECADES – as lead investigator reveals his biggest regret

A TOP investigator has revealed his biggest regret after the mysterious murder of a 13-year-old boy left Britain perplexed for decades.

Carl Bridgewater, a newspaper delivery boy, was killed at Yew Tree Farm, Stourbridge, in 1978 after allegedly interrupting a burglary.

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Four men, known as the Bridgewater Four, were convicted of the boy’s murder in 1979.

But the ruling was later overturned after the Court of Appeal found two Staffordshire police officers had fabricated the evidence.

One man, Patrick Molloy, died in prison, while the other three spent 18 years behind bars.

Bert Spencer, now 83, who served 15 years in prison for the murder of his friend, farmer Hubert Wilkes, has repeatedly been named as a suspect in Carl’s unsolved murder.

Call to reopen the file

Professor and criminologist David Wilson is calling for the case to be reopened after saying in a Channel 4 documentary that Wilkes’ murder had “eerie similarities” to that of the schoolboy.

He said he displayed “tremendous narcissism” and “could turn on and off emotionally.”

He was often aggressive towards me

David Wilson

David’s wife Janet told the program “deep down” she believed Spencer was involved in Carl’s murder – or at least that he was involved.

She added there was “no concrete evidence” but insisted Staffordshire Police should reopen the case.

Spencer has denied all of these claims.

Growing suspicions

In an interview with The Sun, David told how he spoke to Spencer for almost 30 hours and knew he had gotten “under his skin”.

“I know I pissed him off, what can I say, he was often aggressive towards me,” he said.

He added: “I didn’t set out to prove that he killed Carl Bridgewater. I just went and asked the questions that obviously needed to be asked.

“And there were immediately things that connected him.

“He was driving a brand of car that had been seen at Yew Tree Farm, the person who saw the driver passing saw that the man was wearing a uniform.”

“Then, a year later, he was convicted of murder in much the same way, and he claimed to have no memory of it.

“I just went on to say: Are these things coincidences or are they connected in a bigger way?”

New evidence

Bert Spencer, a former Black Country ambulance driver, agreed to take part in the documentary after it was revealed new evidence against him would soon come to light.

Simon Golding, author of Scapegoat for Murder – The Truth About the Murder of Carl Bridgewater, said he would reveal the latest information in a sequel to his book.

Despite hopes of clearing his name, the book only intensified public pressure on the man.

Spencer, who now lives near Spalding in Lincolnshire, told Channel 4 the documentary’s claims would “cause unspeakable misery”.

What happened next?

David hoped the documentary could have helped reopen the case against Spencer, as his comments provided “enough information for us to bring justice to Carl and his family.”

In an interview with The Sun, he said it was “disappointing” that the ex-convict was not subsequently questioned.

He said: “In most cold cases, people imagine, because they watch TV and go to movies, that cold cases are becoming hot because of advances in forensic science.

“That’s not how they get hot, they get hot because alliances change, relationships break down,

This is an extraordinary case and the fact that it still remains unsolved is quite astonishing.

David Wilson

“Witnesses previously dismissed are now considered to have reliable information and all of these things happened in this case thanks to the work done by the documentarians.

“And that’s why it was so disappointing. That Bert was never interviewed under caution after it aired.”

David admitted it was possible another suspect was still out there.

David said: “This is an extraordinary case and the fact that it remains unsolved is quite astonishing given that a young newspaper delivery boy, in a small community,

“There were witnesses who saw someone at the time, a very similar murder only 12 months later, it’s very strange that this case hasn’t been solved.”

Police told Spencer in 2017 that they would take no action against him following the TV show.

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