From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Picked this up in my local paper, it may have a bearing on the reasons why
the police are now destroying surplus firearms.
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Jury takes 90 minutes to clear Trevor Clouden of 'Lucky' murder
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RELATIVES of Warren 'Lucky' Wilson fled sobbing from court after Trevor
Clouden was acquitted of his murder at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Mr Clouden did not testify but his barrister, Courtenay Griffiths, QC,
maintained he was framed for the murder, which he claimed was carried out by
a mystery gunman.
Clouden, 37, of Hartwell Drive, Kempston, was alleged to have fired four
bullets into Wilson's head as he sat in a car on the corner of Church Street
and Alexandra Road, Bedford, on August 17, 1997.
It was revealed that the weapon was a Smith and Wesson which had once been
used as a policeman's gun. Strathclyde police had sold it on to a registered
gun dealer and records show it was later destroyed.
However, it found its way into the underworld and was wrapped in a towel and
used to shoot Wilson at close range.
A street cleaner later found the weapon, still wrapped in the towel, in a
flower bed.
The court heard that Wilson was involved in an escalating turf war between
gangsters hoping to control a drug dealing empire in Bedford.
It was said that Wilson was battling against his major rivals, the Crearer
brothers, who put a L12,000 price on his head.
After the killing, Clouden fled to the island of Caricou in the Caribbean.
With the help of his brother, he was eventually traced to an apartment in
Brooklyn, New York, where he was arrested in August last year and waived his
right to fight extradition.
In his closing speech, Mr Griffiths claimed he was framed by police and his
brother, David, who gave evidence against him.
David claimed that Trevor had admitted to him that he had shot Wilson.
He said: "We know how powerful the hatred one brother can have for another
ever since the Old Testament when Cain killed Abel."
Home Secretary Jack Straw has agreed to the release from prison of David, who
was jailed for four years in July 1998 for drug dealing and has since
contracted AlDS.
Trevor Clouden denied murdering Wilson and the jury took 90 minutes to find
him not guilty.
Det Supt Dave Tomlinson, officer in charge of the inquiry said: "We had to
gather evidence through a wall of silence. Many people were afraid to talk to
us. Many of those who gave evidence are either in prison or have criminal
records. This has been a difficult case from start to finish."
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