Anthony Bird: John Paul guilty of 42-year-old murder

A man who confessed to murdering a man more than 40 years ago and later denied it has been found guilty at the Old Bailey.

Anthony Bird, 42, was found naked with his wrists bound at his flat in Kensington Gardens Square in 1980.

His murder remained unsolved for decades, until John Paul, 61, walked into Hammersmith police station in May 2021 and confessed to killing Mr Bird.

Paul, from Maida Vale was remanded into custody on Monday.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Earlier in the trial, the prosecution told the court Paul entered Hammersmith police station last year and said he wanted to report a murder from 1980.

Jurors heard he told an officer: "He (Bird) 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."

The court heard that police inquiries had flagged up the unsolved case file on Mr Bird's murder as "worth a look", and Paul was arrested later the same day.

But Paul, from Maida Vale in west London, went on to deny murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter during his trial at the Old Bailey.

Mr Bird, a porter and part-time barman, was last seen alive late on the night of 3 June 1980 in the Queensway area of west London.

Prosecutor John Price KC told jurors that after Mr Bird failed to turn up for work at the Railway Tap pub, police were called to his one-bedroom flat and used a sledgehammer to smash into the property.

He said they found that it appeared to be "ransacked", adding: "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.

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.

Jurors heard that Paul's fingerprints were taken and matched to evidence from the crime scene.

However it was claimed Paul's confession to the killing was not reliable, and that even if he was responsible he did not intend to do Mr Bird serious harm.

The jury deliberated for half a day before finding Paul guilty of murder.