Police considering whether Bert Spencer documentary provides new evidence in Carl Bridgewater murder case

Wordsley paperboy Carl Bridgewater was shot dead at Yew Tree Farm in 1978 and the case remains unsolved after 38 years.

Four men, who became known as the Bridgewater Four, were found guilty of the brutal crime but after almost two decades in prison their convictions were overturned.

But new documentary Interview With a Murderer, which saw former suspect Bert Spencer (pictured right - below) and first wife Janet interviewed by criminologist Professor David Wilson, appears to have shed new light on the crime which remains one of Britain's biggest unsolved criminal cases.

Spencer, an ambulance officer, who claims he was working at Corbett Hospital in Stourbridge on the day of the murder, has consistently denied being the killer.

But claims made by his former spouse and a hospital secretary, who originally provided an alibi, have led to calls for the case to be reviewed.

Midlands MPs Mike Wood (Dudley South), Ian Austin (Dudley North) and Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) have all raised the matter with the Home Secretary and Mr Williamson said he would also contact the Attorney General.

Staffordshire Police say they are aware of and have seen the documentary, which aired on Sunday, having been informed by the production company - and Detective Chief Superintendent, Laurie Whitby-Smith, said: “We are now considering the content of the documentary to ascertain whether new information is available beyond what we already know.

“This process will inform what, if any, action is to be taken in the future.”

DCI Whitby-Smith said the Carl Bridgewater case, like all unsolved murders, has been the subject of periodic reviews over many years to determine if there is any new evidence, or existing evidence that could be reviewed in light of advancing forensic science, to take the investigation forward.