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Gloucestershire Business News

30-year-old murder investigation re-opened by Gloucestershire Police

A 30-year-old murder investigation has been re-opened by Gloucestershire Police after they received 'new and significant' information about the death of Bristol sex worker Carol Clark, who was found strangled alongside a canal in March 1993.

Carol, of Picton Street, Montpellier, Bristol, was 32 when her neck was broken in the attack and her body was dumped in reeds and undergrowth at the side of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

She had last been seen alive when she got into a car near her home at about 11.30pm on Friday, March 26, 1993.

Carol was at that time wearing a black baseball cap, brown leather jacket, blue denim mini skirt, black polo necked jumper and plain blue t-shirt.

Two days later, on Sunday, March 28, 1993, a dog walker found Carol's body close to the water at Sharpness Docks and a large-scale murder investigation was launched.

Gloucestershire Police spokesperson said: "Sadly, despite extensive enquiries and reviews of the case, the murderer has remained at large."

"But now, Gloucestershire Constabulary officers working as part of the South West Major Crime Investigation Team, have received information that could unlock the case and, on the anniversary of the discovery of Carol's body, are appealing for information that will help further."

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Usher said: "I have received new and significant information about this case and while I cannot say more at the moment without putting enquiries at risk, it is an encouraging development and one which has all my officers more determined than ever to find Carol's murderer.

"But I still need the public's help. Carol lived and worked in a very close-knit community and it's likely that some people with information about what happened to her remained silent, perhaps through fear or misplaced loyalty.

"In the time that's passed since, allegiances and loyalties will have changed though, so I'm asking those people to search their consciences once again, 30 years after her death, to look at her photo, to think about the impact this continues to have on her loved ones, and help bring the culprit to justice.

"And I still want information from anyone who may have seen something near the spot where Carol was found to come forward if they recall anything.

"The location was overlooked by the Severn Way and on the weekend, Carol was found it was the 200th anniversary celebrations of the British Waterways, so it would have been very busy, with foreign-registered vessels in the dock.

"Maybe you were there at the time but travelled back home without hearing about the case until now. Whatever the reason, if you were there and now recall something please report it.

"My thoughts remain with Carol's family, who have remained so dignified and quietly determined through the most traumatic ordeal any family could experience.

"They have been updated about the developments by family liaison officers and request that they are not approached by media at this time."

Carol's family has released a statement saying: "We are aware that the investigation into Carol's death is being re-opened based on new evidence and that new enquiries are being pursued. We hope that this investigation will allow us some closure.

"We are being updated by police family liaison officers, and ask for our privacy to be respected at this time."

Anyone with information should call 101 and quote incident 264 of March 27, 2023, or report online. Alternatively, you can give information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

*At Carol's inquest in February 1995 the coroner was told that police had failed to track down her murderer despite interviewing more than 3,500 people.

A verdict of unlawful killing by a person or persons unknown was recorded on Carol at the Gloucester inquest after coroner David Gibbons heard that her fatal neck injury could not have been accidental or self-inflicted.

Detective Inspector Wayne Murdock had told the coroner how Carol was found dead by visitors to Sharpness docks at 4pm on March 28, 1993.

Her body was reclining at the edge of the canal with her lower legs immersed in the water.

She was wearing only her bra, pants and cowboy-style boots and the rest of her clothing had never been found, he said.

Police had also failed to establish when and where she ate her last meal, which consisted of potato, onions and peas, he said.

Inspector Murdock spoke of the complications caused by Carol's "complex lifestyle" which involved using several aliases - Kate, Caroline and Charlotte - and keeping a flat in Bath as well as the Montpellier home she shared with boyfriend Brian Clarke.

She was dependant on the heroin substitute drug, methadone. Her lifestyle included strong connections in the Wiltshire area and a male friend in Clifton, Bristol.

Her address books, found at several locations, had led to detectives interviewing numerous past clients, said inspector Murdock.

He told the coroner that police had established that Carol was last seen alive at 12.15am on the day of her death. She was seen near her home in a well-known prostitutes location talking to the driver of a light coloured car - possibly a Peugeot 405.

Her boyfriend told police he rang her at their flat at 12.40am when he was at a city centre night club in Bristol.

She told him she was cold, tired and hungry and asked him to bring home a kebab, he stated.

But when he got home at 2.20am she was not there, although it appeared she had not been out long. A note in her writing was later found timed at 1.30am which said she was going out to look for a client and if she found one she would be back about 2.30am - if not she would be back at 2.10am.

She never returned and Mr Clarke reported her missing at 4.20am that day.

Police enquiries had included interviewing the crews of ships from Greece, Russia, Poland and Antigua which were in port at the time. Interpol and the Russian police had also assisted with enquires abroad.

Officers also liaised with other police forces investigating the murders of prostitutes - two in Strathclyde in October 1992 and April 1993 and one in Norfolk in November 1994.

Home Office pathologist Dr Sue Claydon's post mortem report said Carol had cuts and bruising on her lower lip, bruises and grazes on her neck and upper chest and multiple scratches on her back.

She had suffered fractures of the larynx and a compression to the neck which caused her death.

Another pathologist, Dr Kenneth Scott, who was asked to carry out a second post mortem on behalf of the coroner, said he agreed with Dr Claydon that death was due to a blow to the neck.

It caused small bones to fracture and the carotid artery to tear - leading to fatal cardiac arrest, said Dr Scott.

The coroner said: "Irrespective of a person's lifestyle, if that person meets a sudden violent and unexpected death then in this country it is expected that the circumstances of that death will be fully, professionally examined and investigated without malice or prejudice."

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