MORE MPs have joined Dudley’s Ian Austin to call on the Home Secretary to reopen the investigation into the unsolved murder of Stourbridge newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater following revelations in a Channel 4 documentary.
Dudley South’s Mike Wood and South Staffordshire’s Gavin Williamson have joined Labour MP Mr Austin in urging Home Secretary Theresa May to ask the Crown Prosecution Service and police to review the case surrounding the killing of the 13-year-old in 1978 in light of potential new evidence revealed in the TV documentary Interview With a Murderer.
The Channel 4 film, screened on Sunday, focussed on encounters between leading criminologist Professor David Wilson and former ambulance officer Bert Spencer, a convicted killer and a prime suspect in the historic case, but it also saw Spencer’s ex-wife Janet making the shocking admission that she believed her former spouse could have been the killer.
Spencer has vociferously rejected claims he murdered the Wordsley schoolboy who was shot dead at Yew Tree Farm, off the A449, but the documentary has prompted the three Midlands MPs to call for the case to be reviewed.
Mr Austin spoke out in Home Office Questions in the House of Commons on Monday to say the new evidence should be considered and Policing Minister Mike Penning confirmed he would “look at it and look at the ongoing evidence” and he suggested meeting with the MP to discuss it further.
Since then – Conservative MPs Mr Wood, who represents the constituency in which Carl’s parents Brian and Janet Bridgewater still live, and Mr Williamson, in whose constituency the Bridgewater murder happened, have both called for the case to be reviewed.
Mr Wood, pictured below, said: “There’s clearly evidence that needs to be reviewed and assessed now.
“There were some very serious questions raised but a TV documentary isn’t the same thing as a trial - it would be unfair to convict Bert Spencer on the basis of what was raised on Sunday.”
But he said police “do need to review evidence presented on Sunday, alongside evidence they’ve already got, to make sure justice is done and the right person is punished”.
Mr Williamson, pictured below, said as well as raising the matter with Theresa May he would also do so with the Attorney General.
He told the News: “It seems new evidence has come to light and in the interests of justice something has to be done.
“If prosecutions are able to be secured everything should be done to secure them.
“Hopefully justice can be delivered for a young lad who was brutally murdered. It’s incumbent on all public officials to ensure he gets justice at long last. It’s such an awful case.
“If it was my child I’d be wanting justice no matter how long it’s been – justice should never time out.”
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said the force would “review the investigation in light of any new information or evidence being made available”.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here