FORTY ONE years ago the Kidderminster Shuttle played a vital role in solving one of the area’s most tangled murders. The web of lies and deceits surrounding the killing of corporation dustman John Davies was proving difficult for detectives to penetrate until the paper published a key request for help.

Police were keen to trace the owner of  silver-grey Vauxhall Viva car and the Shuttle ran the appeal on its front page. The story was seen by a reader, a Mr Milward,  who remembered he had been fishing on the town’s canal near Cadwell Mill Bridge when he saw a similar car pull up and something being thrown into the water.

Thinking it strange, he noted the registration number. After reading the Shuttle he went straight to the police and a search of the canal uncovered the murder weapon, which led to the conviction of Mr Davies’ killer.

Kidderminster Shuttle: Caldwell Mill Bridge over the canal in Kidderminster, where police divers found the wheel braced used to batter John Davies to deathCaldwell Mill Bridge over the canal in Kidderminster, where police divers found the wheel braced used to batter John Davies to death

“The spotting of the car by a member of the public was a pivotal moment in the case,” said retired Det Chief Supt Brian Humphreys, who has now written a book, Big Talk Murder, all about the bizarre events in 1981 - for John Davies was not your average refuse collector.

Nicknamed “Dustbin Davies” and living in the  former council house he owned in Clifton Road, Kidderminster, he had a habit of lavish spending in local pubs. Davies was known to splash out up to £70 a time (around £350 today) on rounds of drinks and food. It turned out he was substantially supplementing his income by wheeling and dealing, mostly in scrap metal which he squirreled away from the council refuse site.

In that way he was able to give the impression, not entirely untrue, of being a wealthy man. 

For while the extravagantly named Douglas Lorworth  William Ellis Casey Latham told tales of being a former member of the SAS and a mercenary soldier in Angola.

Latham came into John Davies’ life through his daughter Carol. The pair met while working together at West Midlands Safari Park and became lovers. In October 1980 Latham moved into the Davies family home in Birchen Coppice and 15 months later Dustbin was found dead on his own settee with head injuries caused by what was thought to be a metal bar.

Kidderminster Shuttle: The Davies family home in Birchen Coppice, Kidderminster where John Davies was murdered in 1981.The Davies family home in Birchen Coppice, Kidderminster where John Davies was murdered in 1981.

Fed-up with their boring lives in England, Latham and Carol Davies had decided to escape to South Africa, but lacked any finance. So they hatched a plan to do away with the charge-hand refuse collector whose money, they somewhat naively assumed, would fund their adventure.

Such was their web of lies and deceit and their involvement of others, the detectives eureka moment didn’t happen until a witness came forward following the Shuttle story. The car  turned out to belong to Carol Davies and in the canal divers found a metal wheel brace, the murder weapon.

In November, 1981 at Oxford Crown Court Latham was jailed for life for the murder of John Davies, while Carol Davies was also sent to prison for conspiracy.

Big Talk Murder by Brian Humphreys costs £11.95 from amazon.co.uk