Murder suspects found in 1960s missing miner case

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******* suspects found in 1960s missing miner case

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Nottinghamshire Police

Alfred Swinscoe – a miner since the age of 14 – went missing in 1967 after drinking at a pub

Police have identified two ******* suspects thought to have been involved in the ****** of a miner whose ******** were discovered more than 50 years after he went missing.

Alfred Swinscoe’s ******** were found in a field on farmland in Nottinghamshire last April, after the father of six was last seen drinking at a pub on 27 January 1967.

Work on Mr Swinscoe’s bones has found he sustained a “significant” stab injury and blunt force trauma, and police say he ***** with a broken hand.

Now officers have identified two suspects, both of whom are no longer alive.

Nottinghamshire Police launched a ******* inquiry following the

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of the ********,

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as belonging to the 54-year-old.

They were found off Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, on 26 April, when digging work was being carried out on farmland.

Officers believe Mr Swinscoe – who last seen at the former Pinxton Miners Arms in Derbyshire – was murdered and then ******* in a grave between 4ft (1.2m) and 6ft (1.8m) deep.

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Police spent three weeks at the field after Mr Swinscoe’s ******** were found

Police said since the ******** were found, scientists had carried out “extensive” work on Mr Swinscoe’s bones to determine a cause of ******.

It is thought Mr Swinscoe could have sustained his broken hand while fighting his attacker or attackers off.

One of the suspects had a history of *********, police added.

Some of the injuries the suspect had inflicted on another man he was convicted of assaulting in April 1966, were similar to those found on Mr Swinscoe.

As some of the bones were missing, experts believe it was “highly likely” Mr Swinscoe was ******* at a different location, and then moved to where his ******** were found “at a much later date”.

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Russell Lowbridge at the site where his grandfather’s ******** were found

Mr Swinscoe’s grandson, Russell Lowbridge, told the BBC he recognised the former miner’s sock that was found with the ********.

“Finding out he was murdered was a shock. It took some sinking in,” Mr Lowbridge said. “It’s all a bit disturbing and upsetting.

“Anybody that knew anything, they’ve kept it a secret. It would be wonderful if [people] did come forward – it would help put our minds at rest.

“It will always haunt us; we’ll always be left wondering. We have got some closure, but not full closure. There are still questions to be answered.”

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Mr Lowbridge said he helped identify Mr Swinscoe through the pattern on socks found with the ********

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Nottinghamshire Police

Mr Swinscoe, seen sitting on the step, pictured with Mr Lowbridge and Julie Swinscoe

Since the age of 14, Mr Swinscoe had worked at Langton Colliery as a “cutter”, known for operating a machine that cut large chunks of coal out of the coal face for others to then break down.

He had the nickname “Sparrow”, and was also known as “Champion Pigeon Man of Pinxton”, due to his love of pigeon racing.

Four of his six children are still alive and he has a number of grandchildren.

It is believed Mr Swinscoe was drinking with his two sons and friends on the night of his disappearance.

He was last seen giving money to son Gary to buy a round, and then left to use the outside *******.

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Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin admitted police “may never get the full picture” of what happened to Mr Swinscoe

Mr Lowbridge previously told the BBC that the disappearance had “tormented” Gary, who ***** in 2012 “never knowing what happened to his dad”.

Detectives believe a vehicle would have been used in the ********, as it was “some distance” between the pub and where Mr Swinscoe was *******.

They added it “would have been rare” to own a car in the village of Pinxton in 1967.

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Mr Lowbridge is now ******* at Sutton *********

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin said many of the people who were with Mr Swinscoe at the time he went missing were no longer alive, adding “we may never get the full picture” of what happened.

“That certainly hasn’t stifled our determination to investigate this ****** and leave no stone unturned to find his ******* or killers,” he said.

“We will continue to investigate this ****** and continue to look at all new and existing avenues available to us.”

Mr Swincoe’s cause of ****** will be determined by a pathologist ahead of an inquest.

Police are continuing to appeal for information, with Mr Swinscoe’s final movements recreated as part of a

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in October.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Russell Lowbridge

Actor Stephen Blakeley (left) – known for playing PC Younger in TV series Heartbeat – works for the ******** directors that arranged Mr Swinscoe’s burial service

The family held a small ******** for Mr Swinscoe in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, in January.

The service – at A Wass ******** Directors – was officiated by Stephen Blakeley, a celebrity celebrant who was known for playing PC Younger in the television series Heartbeat.

“He did a nice talk about grandad for us and it was lovely,” Mr Lowbridge said.

“It’s good to have him back home ******* properly with his family and we feel content that he’s not lost any more.”

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