No charges for pensioner in Bridgewater murder
THE FAMILY of Midland paperboy Carl Bridgewater have suffered a new blow after Staffordshire Police said a review of the case had led to no breakthroughs.
The force re-examined the killing of the 13-year-old after a Channel 4 documentary called Interview with a Murderer was screened last year. The documentary linked Hubert Spencer to the crime in 1978.
But the review, which looked at previous investigations and forensics, found just one new witness who was interviewed but could not progress the investigation.
Staffordshire Police this week that were currently no grounds to interview Hubert Spencer and there were no new suspects. Carl was shot after disturbing a burglary at Stourbridge’s Yew Tree Farm. Mr Spencer, who lives on the fringes of Lincolnshire’s fens, spoke out in February to deny any part in the crime. The former judo instructor, 72, said: “Let’s get this straight. I was a suspect. There were 37 prime suspects. No-one bothers to say I had a cast-iron alibi – I was at work when it happened.” Staffordshire Police said in a statement : “To date there have been 14 separate reviews of this case carried out in the last 39 years, including a number of independent enquiries carried out by other police forces. Rest assured unsolved crimes of this nature are never closed and our victims of crime are never forgotten.”