Suspected killer of newspaper boy seeking to get separate murder conviction quashed

Bert Spencer, who has repeatedly been linked to the unsolved murder of Carl in 1978, was jailed for life in 1980 for the murder of his friend, farmer Hubert Wilkes, who lived in Prestwood, near Kingswinford.

He has now applied for leave of appeal against his conviction for the murder of Mr Wilkes, saying he should have instead been convicted of manslaughter. He is awaiting a decision.

Mr Spencer has released a 10-minute video message urging the jurors who convicted him in 1980 to get in touch with him to hear his fresh evidence.

Mr Spencer, now 83, shot Mr Wilkes after a drunken party at Mr Wilkes' home, Holloway House Farm at Prestwood.

The court was told that Mr Spencer seized a shotgun belonging to Mr Wilkes, sawed off the barrel to shorten it, and shot Mr Wilkes at point-blank range. He then attacked his then-wife and Mr Wilkes' daughter.

Mr Spencer, an ambulance officer living in Kingsley Road, Kingswinford at the time, admitted shooting 70-year-old Mr Wilkes during the trial at Stafford Crown Court.

But he claims his actions were not premeditated and should have instead been convicted of manslaughter.

"Some of the jurors on my trial might consider this is not possible," he said. "They did after all, clearly hear prosecution evidence showing that I had formed the necessary intent in planning and preparing to commit the murder in advance.

"The basis of my campaign is that fresh evidence in the case reveals that the conviction can no longer be considered safe."

He claims the prosecution's failure to disclose crucial evidence to his barrister Richard Curtis QC resulted in him failing to cross-examine a hostile witness. He says he should have been convicted of manslaughter rather murder, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove intent.

Mr Spencer, who has lived in Lincolnshire since his release from prison in 1995, said he would always regret taking the life of Mr Wilkes.

"Taking the life of Hubert Wilkes is something I will always be extremely regretful for."

He says his murder conviction made him an easy target for the media, looking for somebody to blame for Carl's murder.

Wordsley schoolboy Carl, 13, was shot at Yew Tree Farm, also in Prestwood, in September 1978 while delivering a newspaper to the house. It is believed he disturbed a burglary.

For a time, Mr Spencer was chief suspect for the murder, but was ruled out after providing an alibi that he was at work at Stourbridge's Corbett Hospital at the time Carl was killed.

Three men, cousins Vincent and Michael Hickey and Jim Robinson were convicted of Carl's murder after a trial at Stafford Crown Court in November, 1979. A fourth man, Patrick Molloy, was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter. Molloy died in prison from a heart attack two years later. All four had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in February, 1997.

Since then, Mr Spencer has regularly been the subject of allegations that he was responsible for Carl's murder, including the 2016 television programme Interview With A Murderer, which cast doubt on his alibi.

Mr Spencer suffered a stroke two weeks after the programme was broadcast. He also blamed the stress of the accusations for a heart attack he suffered in 2018.

Police told Mr Spencer in March 2017 that they would not be taking any action against him after looking at the allegations in the television programme.

He said: "My 15 years in prison was difficult enough, but was compounded by a massive media circus with unfounded allegations that I was also involved in the Carl Bridgewater murder, resulting in 30 years of unnecessary an unrelenting persecution which has impacted my life profoundly.

"My aim is to uncover, at last, illicit policing practices, conspiracy and corruption, malpractice, and judicial errors that occurred during my trial at Stafford Crown Court in June 1980, for the murder of Hubert Wilkes."

Staffordshire Police spokesperson Victoria Beech said the force was aware of Mr Spencer's video.

"The force’s professional standards department has not received any complaints in connection with this matter,” she said.