Police 'sat on' secret diary that might have cleared 'murderer'

THE POLICE have been accused of holding on to evidence that could have cleared a Merseyside man, Eddie Gilfoyle, who spent 18 years in jail for the murder of his pregnant wife in 1992.

Paula Gilfoyle was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she was found hanging in the garage of the marital home in the Wirral. In court, the prosecution said the suicide note written by Paula had in fact been dictated by her husband, who had persuaded her to put a noose around her neck and climb a ladder as part of a "suicide experiment".

Relatives and friends testified that Paula was carefree and expressed amazement that she would commit suicide. Eddie Gilfoyle was found guilty of murder and later lost two appeals against his conviction.

But today The Times reports that a secret diary belonging to Paula was kept by police for 16 years. The diary, which Paula kept padlocked in a box, reveals that she attempted to take her own life by overdosing on drugs at the age of 15 and that two previous boyfriends had threatened to commit suicide. Also among the papers was a suicide note from one of the boyfriends which used similar wording to the one found after her death.

The box was in the possession of Merseyside police from 1994 and was only handed to Gilfoyle's lawyers in August 2010. Gilfoyle was released four months later and his defence team now want the conviction overturned.

Alison Halford, former Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, has called for an inquiry into the affair, saying: "Somebody has been sitting on a box with all this information about her behaviour and dysfunctionality. This is so serious there has to be an independent inquiry and the Home Secretary must personally involve herself in what has been going on." ·