Murder conspiracy charge duo not guilty

Brian Roper, aged 26 and Paul Swann, aged 25, both formerly of Bolton, were cleared of the charge on the orders of the judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Hunt at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, following the conclusion of the prosecution case.

He ruled that there was insufficient evidence for a jury to properly convict the pair and ordered that not guilty verdicts be returned.

"Suspicion is not enough. There has to be active participation," he said.

Roper and Swann then pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving false alibis in statements to police.

Roper was jailed for 18 months for the offence and Swann received a two year conditional discharge.

Three others also accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice, Sarah Barber, aged 23, of Barn Court, Julie Hardman, aged 21, of Hastings Road, both Bolton, and Alexander Latimer, aged 24, of Rodmell Close, Bromley Cross, were all cleared after the prosecution dropped the case against them.

The jury of seven women and five men had been told by prosecution counsel Charles Garside QC that Billy Webb had been shot dead in the bedroom of his flat in Whiteledge Road, Bryn, near Wigan, in the early hours of May 25 2001 as he slept next to girlfriend Helen Watkinson. She received a bullet wound to the arm.

The killers, who have never been caught, let themselves into the flat using a key.

They murdered the gangland boss in what was described as a "planned and calculated execution".

The prosecution had alleged that Roper and Swann, although not the killers, were involved in the murder plot. Mobile phone records showed that both men were in the Wigan area near Webb's flat on the night. Mr Garside asserted that this was to make sure the hitmen got the right location and victim.

Both Roper and Swann then lied about their whereabouts when questioned by police, although Swann, a salesman and former nightclub bouncer, later admitted to police that they were false alibis.

But at the conclusion of the prosecution's case, Mr Justice Hunt ruled that suspicion over what the two men had been doing on the night of Webb's murder and the fact that they lied about their whereabouts to police did not amount to strong enough evidence for a jury to consider.

However, Roper, who is already serving a four-year jail term for conspiracy to supply cocaine, was sentenced to a further 18 months prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

"I cannot ignore that this offence was committed against a background of your other serious offences", Mr Justice Hunt told Roper.

Swann's barrister, Roderick Carus, QC, told the court his client's admission to police had put his life in danger and he had had to move out of the area.

He stressed that Swann had been an impressionable young man influenced by the drugs scene Roper was involved in, although he had never been a part of it himself.

Swann now has a stable family life and good job.

"He knows he has done wrong and that he should have stood up to Roper," said Mr Carus.

Handing down a conditional discharge for two years, Mr Justice Hunt told Swann: "I do not essentially believe you are a bad man. I accept you did this at his (Roper's) instigation.

"I have every belief you will keep out of trouble."

Speaking briefly outside the court at the conclusion of the trial, Swann said: "I am relieved it is all now over."

Det Supt Kevin Duffy, who headed the murder investigation, said afterwards that the unwillingness of witnesses to come forward had made finding the people responsible for Webb's murder difficult.

"It is a tricky case because of the kind of people who we believe were involved in the killing of Billy Webb," he said.

However, despite yesterday's court decision, investigations into the murder were still under way.

"We are still looking for the people who killed Billy Webb and our inquiries will continue, said Det Supt Duffy.

"Perhaps, with the passage of time, people will now be able to tell us things they could not at the time."