Jason Spence

Jason Spence was shot in Cardington Avenue by two men in a car on 13 November 2002.

He was shot at about 11.15pm, just after he left the New Bell pub. He was then taken to Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich where he died soon after.

His post-mortem stated that he died from internal injuries resulting from a gunshot wound to the back.

It was said that whilst drinking in the New Bell pub there had been an altercation between the group that Jason Spence was with and another group. After Jason Spence's group left the pub and were walking home, a silver Mitsubishi Gallant estate car with two white men in it pulled up by them at 11.15pm and fired shots at the group, hitting Jason Spence.

The driver of the car was described as white, in his late 20s with brown hair and had either a black moustache or goatee beard. The passenger in the car was also white, about 5ft 6in tall, with blonde hair, in his 20s with a pock-marked complexion. The two men were later also described as being either 27 or 28 years old.

It was said that the Mitsubishi car had been stolen in the Coventry area and kept somewhere for two weeks before being taken back to the Coventry area on the night of the shooting and set on fire. It was said that the car had been driven to Coventry along the M6.

The police found several bullet casings from the scene.

Jason Spence was said to have been involved with far-right groups, including the National Front, however, the police said that there was no evidence to suggest that that had anything to do with his murder.

It was said that the police had met a wall of silence over the shooting amongst the people that had been in the New Bell pub on the night of the murder. The police later said that they thought that there were people in the community who knew something.

It was said that the national media interest in the case drove the gunmen to ground, which had made it harder for the police to find them.

Two people that had been in the New Bell pub at the time were later charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm but the charges against them were dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service said that there was not enough evidence for the case to proceed.

Jason Spence was married with three children.