One-armed bandit case killer gives up fight for justice
THE man convicted of the ‘one-armed bandit’ murder has given up the fight to clear his name.
Alongside Michael Luvaglio, Dennis Stafford was found guilty of the 1967 killing of Angus Sibbet, who was found shot dead in his Jaguar in South Hetton, County Durham.
Both Stafford and Luvaglio have always protested their innocence, and have waged a long legal battle to clear their names.
Now Stafford, 83, says he is giving up on the fight and is selling his £180,000 apartment in Stnhope Castle, County Durham to spend the rest of his life abroad.
He said: “I was trying to get justice but they decided back then to convict us, despite what the evidence said. In fact there was no evidence, no forensics – there isn’t even a motive. It stunk to high heaven. No-one in this day and age can believe we were guilty. It just wouldn’t stand up today. But what can you do? I will die a convicted murderer.
“I fought it for many, many years but I have reached this age and I have had enough. I am going to Asia. I am going to go there, find a beach and forget about all of this.
“I am in good health and want to make the most of the time I’ve got left. But I still maintain my innocence.”
Stafford, who had gangland connections, grew up just streets away from the notorious Kray twins in East London.
He arrived in the North East in 1966 to manage The Piccadilly club on Stowell Street in Newcastle city centre.
Because of connections with the lucrative fruit machine business, which were being put in nightclubs in the region at the time, the death of 33-year-old Sibbet became known as the ‘one-armed bandit murder.’
Stafford spent 12 years in prison, and split his sentence between Durham and Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight.
Though Stafford has now said he has given up on trying to clear his name, Luvaglio is determined to fight on.
Speaking from his London home, the 79-yearold said: “Dennis has protested his innocence for as long as I have and I can understand why he has given up on getting justice.
“But I will continue fighting until my dying breath and I am now offering a reward of £50,000 for information that directly leads to my conviction being quashed at a new appeal.”
A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: “Since Dennis Stafford’s conviction in 1967 for the murder of Angus Sibbet the case has been through two appeals and the Criminal Cases Review Commission, all of which have upheld the prosecution. Durham Constabulary stands by the investigation conducted and resulting conviction.”