Wakefield man 'lived in shadow of suspicion' despite being cleared of murder of Elsie Frost

Ian Spencer was charged with the murder of Elsie, 14, following her death in 1965.

He was acquitted by a jury, but felt the “shadow of suspicion” for the rest of his life, Wakefield Coroner’s Court heard.

A fresh inquest into the schoolgirl's death was held this week, 54 years after she was murdered.

In the years following his acquittal, Mr Spencer was frequently visited by police following other local crimes. His worry led him to keep a log of his whereabouts at all times.

Senior coroner Kevin McLoughlin said: “We have heard evidence from his son that on occasions police came to Mr Spencer’s home to check on his whereabouts when crimes were committed.

“He was 32 and lived the remainder of his life in the shadow of suspicion.”

Lee Spencer, Mr Spencer’s son, said: “I’m very happy with what the coroner said. It’s been a long time coming, it’s 53 years since my dad went to the coroner’s court to volunteer information, which ultimately led to his court appearance.

“Since then the family have written on numerous occasions to the press and West Yorkshire Police who stopped in various visits over the years regarding other cases. My great sadness is that all the closest members of the family have since passed away.

“It tells me that dad is fully exonerated. I still felt that there was something out there that people felt dad had something to do with it.

“But I think after the coroner’s statement today there’s no doubt. It’s been very emotional. I had a tear, or one or two, when the coroner was summing up.”

In 2016, following the opening of a reinvestigation into Elsie’s death, Detective chief superintendent Nick Wallen met with Mr Spencer to make clear that he would not have been charged under modern thresholds.

Inquest into Wakefield schoolgirl Elsie Frost told murder 'split our family wide open'But Mr McLoughlin noted that Mr Spencer suffered from dementia, and may not have understood the importance of the conversation.

Mr Spencer died in 2018.

In a statement given outside the court this afternoon, Det Chief Supt Wallen said: “It is clear the original 1965 enquiry by the then West Riding Constabulary, which predated our force, did not identify the correct suspect. I met with Ian Bernard Spencer’s family in 2016 to make that clear and stress that under today’s threshold test Ian would not have been charged.

“The way it appears to me is that in 1965 the police investigation team became almost transfixed upon Ian Bernard Spencer, Lee’s father. They built a case around him and when that case fell apart they took the view that they had got their man, that they had produced sufficient evidence to convict him.

“But when that case fell apart they simply drew up their stumps and retreated and no further investigation took place.

“I have to say that things are so different in 2019. It simply would not happen today but I think it is an interesting but tragic visit back to 1965.

“When we commenced our investigation we could never have anticipated we would have been able to identify a suspect for a crime then 50 years old.

“That man was, of course, Peter Pickering, and I firmly believe that if it had not been for his own death, he would have been charged and put before a jury to answer for Elsie’s murder.”