Man who walked into police station to confess to unsolved murder faces life in prison

John Paul confessed after walking into a police station last year

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A 61-year-old man is facing life behind bars after walking into a police station and confessing to an unsolved murder that took place in 1980.

John Paul, of Maida Vale, confessed to killing porter and part-time barman Anthony Bird, admitting that he had “battered him” with a lump of wood.

Mr Bird, 42, was found naked with his wrists bound at his flat in Kensington Gardens Square on 6 June, 1980.

His murder remained unsolved for the following four decades until Paul walked into Hammersmith Police Station in May 2021 and confessed.

Paul went on to deny murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter at his trial at the Old Bailey.

It was claimed his confession to the killing was not reliable and that even if he was responsible, he did not intend to do Mr Bird really serious harm.

The jury deliberated for half a day before finding the 61-year-old guilty of murder. He was remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date.

During the trial, prosecutor John Price KC described how Paul entered Hammersmith Police Station just after 9.30am on 5 May last year, saying he wanted to report a murder from 41 years ago.

He went on to give further details, telling an officer: “He approached me and just spoke to me and just talked me into having sex with him.

“He took me back to his place. I tied him with cord. I think the cord was black, I’m not sure. I tied him with a cord, his ankles, his hands, his arms, on the bed naked.

“There was a piece of wood. I used the piece of wood to batter him.”

Police had flagged up the unsolved case file on Mr Bird’s murder as “worth a look” by 11.34am, and at 3.35pm, Paul was arrested on suspicion of murder.

On being cautioned, he asked of the location of Mr Bird’s flat: “Is that near Whiteleys” – a reference to a former department store in Kensington.

Mr Price told jurors that Mr Bird was gay and was known to pick up men for sex.

He was last seen alive late on the night of 3 June, 1980, in the Queensway area of west London.

Years later, Paul told doctors that the man had propositioned him for sex while he was out to steal something and that he had gone home with him.

After Mr Bird failed to turn up for work at the Railway Tap pub, police were called to the one-bedroom flat, jurors heard.

Officers used a sledgehammer to smash into the property and found that it appeared to have been “ransacked”, Mr Price said.

The prosecutor told jurors: “The officers went into the bedroom. On the bed they found the lifeless body of Tony Bird. He was naked. He was lying on his side. His knees were tucked up and his legs were crossed.

“Black electrical flex was bound tightly around his left wrist and around his left ankle. There was the mark of a cord around his right wrist. There were numerous marks and apparent bruising on his body.”

The court was told two planks of wood were found at the scene.

Mr Price told jurors that Paul’s fingerprints were taken and matched to evidence from the crime scene.