Prosecution Case
Stafford and Luvaglio murdered Angus Sibbett and then went
directly to the Birdcage Club in Newcastle to secure an alibi.
- Contradicting Evidence:
John Tumbelty, on BBC TV Programme “Midweek” which was aired on Jan 17th, 1973, gave a lengthy interview in which he
detailed how, between midnight and 1:00am, he received a
telephone call while at the Bird Cage Club from a Cockney man,
asking to be picked up from South Hetton.
When he picked up the man he noticed that his trouser leg was torn and his sock was soaked with blood.
The man asked to be driven to the Birdcage Club.
Tumbelty drove him to the Birdcage Club and when they arrived he overheard part of a conversation that the man had with
another man at the bar, to the effect of “you’re mad, you bastard, mad!” A few days later Tumbelty was warned by Mike Tully to forget about what happened that night.
He also told Tumbelty that he had to ‘clear’ him.
That was when Tumbelty realised that he had picked up Sibbet’s killer that night in South Hetton.
Comment:
The cockney man whom he picked up had a bleeding wound on his leg. It is highly possible that it was his blood that was the unidentified fresh blood found on the transmission housing in the Mark X?
It didn’t match either the blood group of Sibbet, Stafford or Luvaglio. - Contradicting Evidence:
Matthew Dean confirmed the phone call Tumbelty received and that he left the club for around an hour returning with another man.
Comment:
Blood found in the telephone box near where the Mark X was found was the same blood group as Angus. That was the only place the cockney man could have called Tumbelty from.
In the video clip to the right of this page, Mathew Dean mentions that he remembered Tumbelty and another chap signing the club book upon entry to the Birdcage Club.
This book held a record of everyone who came and went from the club that night as well as the times of their arrival and departure.
Chief Superintendent Kell was congratulated by the Judge on
undertaking a thorough investigation although he did not bother to take possession of the signing-in book for the murder investigation. Or maybe he did bother but to enter this into the investigation would conflict with the theory the prosecution came up with so he decided to suppress this vital piece of evidence.
The signing-in book is very important as it would have established what time Stafford and Luvaglio arrived at the club that night and what time they left. Also it would have established who returned with Tumbelty that night and at what time.
Why was this book not presented as evidence in the murder case?
Also, it has recently been confirmed that the blood samples,
associated records, fingerprints belonging to someone other than
Luvaglio, Stafford or Sibbet have all disappeared.
Durham Constabulary cannot locate them.
The CCRC cannot locate them.
Watch the video on the right to hear Tumblety’s account for yourself.