One-armed bandit murder

The case gained the nickname in the press as the "one-armed bandit murder",[1][2][3] through the connection to the gambling industry, involving the supply of fruit machines, also known colloquially as one-armed bandits, to social clubs.

The case was one of the most notorious killings in the north east,[2][4] and the first gangland killing sparking fears that organised crime was gaining a foothold in the north east.[3] Luvaglio's Italian surname sparked the headline "The Mafia are coming."[3] The trial was one of the biggest seen in the north east.[3]

Both men have always insisted on their innocence,[1][2][5] with Stafford alleging the murder was committed by a Scottish gangster[1][5] and Luvaglio alleging it was part of a failed attempt by the Krays to enter the Newcastle club scene.[1][3]

Luvaglio says that he was charged as Stafford's companion because, in his initial questioning, he refused to say that Stafford had left him on the night of the murder.[3] Had Luvaglio made this statement, it was likely only Stafford would have been charged and convicted.[6][7]

Organised crime was on the rise in Britain during the 1960s, with the most notable events being the gangland wars between the Krays and the Richardson Gang.

Sibbet was a money collector for a company run by Luvaglio's brother which supplied working men's clubs with fruit machines.[3] The company supplied the entire north east representing a lucrative business for underworld gangs.[6]

Sibbet, Luvaglio and Stafford were all friends and business associates.[4][6] Luvaglio was a Londoner with Italian roots[3] who had moved from London to Newcastle to work in his brother's business.[1] Stafford was a self-confessed "playboy",[6] whereas Luvaglio was less involved in crime and was not inclined to violence.[6] Luvaglio asserted that Sibbet was a very good friend of his,[2] even his best friend[2] or like a brother.[3]

On the night of 4 January 1967, Luvaglio and Stafford were to meet Sibbet at the Birdcage club in Newcastle at 12.30am,[4] 16 miles away from the eventual scene of discovery of Sibbet's body.[1][4]

Sibbet's body was discovered the following morning at 5:15 a.m. by a miner[1] in the back seat of his Jaguar, having been shot three times.[2][4] The car was under Pesspool Bridge in South Hetton, County Durham.[5]

The trial took place at Newcastle Crown Court two months later.[3]

As motive for his murder, the prosecution alleged Sibbet had been skimming the takings,[3][5] estimated as £1,000 a week,[1] supported by the fact he could afford to buy a Jaguar Mark 10.[1]

Stafford and Luvaglio were both found guilty, and were sentenced to life in prison.[1][3][4]

The pair were released from prison in 1979, freed on licence after serving 12 years,[5] after two failed appeals while in prison.[1][6]

The main doubts about the original trial surround the asserted time of death,[1][2][3][4][5] proving which was key as the pair had alibis for all but a 45-minute window on the night, and the time of death had to be estimated as the body was only discovered at 5 am; the time was at least five hours prior, according to police.[2] Witnesses were reported to have seen Sibbet alive in the car after the time of death,[2] or nobody in the car.[4]

Doubts were also expressed over the lack of any forensic evidence linking the pair to the scene,[3][4] the actual presence of conflicting forensic evidence,[1][3][4] and over the relevance of contradictory withheld evidence and witness statements[1][4][6] and missing evidence.[4]

In 2002, it was asserted by Stafford's legal team that a murder conviction on the evidence would not have been possible in modern times,[5] and the case was taken to the Criminal Cases Review Commission[5] which opened a review of the case in 2005.[1] This later failed,[6] as did an appeal in the House of Lords.[6]

Stafford was re-imprisoned for two years in 1989[1][5] after breaching his licence by leaving the country, in the meantime setting up in business in South Africa. He was arrested after re-entering the country and being caught in a security check at a hotel where Mikhail Gorbachev was staying.[1][5]

Both Stafford and Luvaglio had been fighting their cases on a separate basis, not speaking to each other since their original release.[6] This was down to the separate backgrounds of the two men, and not due to any falling out.[6] However, a reunion was held after 30 years in March 2008, when they embarked on a Judicial Review at the High Court.[6] This failed, leaving the only recourse an appeal to Europe.

Stafford was later imprisoned for forging traveller's cheques in 1994.[5] Then Home Secretary Michael Howard kept him jailed overruling a parole board recommendation. This decision was later challenged at the European Court of Human Rights and in a landmark ruling in May 2002 the Court ruled that home secretaries had no power to overrule the parole board's decision[5][6] and awarded damages.

The song "5:15 am" by Mark Knopfler from his 2004 album Shangri-La tells the story of the one-armed bandit murder and reflects on its effect on the community.