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Cardiff’s central bus station has vanished from the cityscape, replaced by the modern office buildings of Central Square. Yet, some longtime locals still recall the newspaper kiosk once there, along with the man who operated it. On the evening of 12 October 1987, Saunders finished his shift around 9:30 pm and then went for a pint at a nearby pub on St Mary Street. Afterward, he was carrying £500 in takings as he made his way home to Anstee Court in the Canton district.
Tragically, Saunders was ambushed outside his home, suffering a violent assault during which he was robbed of the money he had collected. He was later discovered badly injured, left for dead near his residence. Police quickly focused their investigation on three suspects, who became known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three. All three were charged with murder and robbery, and their trial began in June 1988. The prosecution’s case relied heavily on a confession by one of the accused, Hall, who claimed he was acting as a lookout for a robbery that had gone wrong. Ultimately, Hall, aged 19, along with Sherwood, 19, and O’Brien, 20, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Years later, these convictions were overturned in a 1999 Court of Appeal ruling. The court criticized Hall’s testimony, describing him as living a “Walter Mitty” fantasy and exhibiting traits of a pathological liar. Even the prosecution’s own psychiatric expert admitted that Hall’s statements “were at risk of being unreliable.” Advances in forensic science, especially DNA technology, alongside other similar UK cases, raise hopes that Saunders’ true assailant might still be identified and brought to justice.
Although the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, had no direct involvement with this case, it launched the Forensic Opportunities Programme in 2024. This initiative aims to re-examine unresolved murder and rape cases from before 2016 to leverage new scientific methods for uncovering the truth. A recent example highlighting the power of modern forensics occurred in Scotland, where a cigarette butt played a vital role in solving a 1984 murder. Similarly, what was once called the UK’s oldest cold case—the 1967 murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol—was resolved decades later through DNA evidence, leading to the conviction of Ryland Headley at age 93. With police believing Saunders’ killer may still be at large, O’Brien expressed hope for a breakthrough: “Because I met the victim’s family and I’ve seen the pain they were going through, to get justice for them would be amazing, more so for them than myself.”
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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