Carl Bridgwater accused Michael Hickey tried to raid home
One of the men wrongly convicted of the murder of Stourbridge paperboy Carl Bridgewater has been handed a suspended prison sentence for attempted burglary.
Michael Hickey tried to break into a house near his home in Birmingham but fled when he heard the screams of children inside, alerted by the sound of breaking glass.
Suspending the sentence, the judge said he was mindful that Hickey, now 56, had already spent time behind bars for a crime for which he was later acquitted.
Birmingham Crown Court was told that the defendant was seen on CCTV peering through a front window in Kings Heath at around 9pm on June 15 before trying to open it using a piece of wood.
But he shattered the glass, drawing screams from inside, and leading him to drop the wood and run. He was arrested after being identified from the CCTV footage.
In a statement, the householder said she was left ‘shocked and scared’ by the attempted break-in, adding her children were frightened by what had happened.
Ms Julia Morgan, defending, argued that Hickey suffered from mental health issues related to his time in prison for which he had been receiving treatment since his release in 1997.
But the Recorder Charles Falk said it must have been ‘extremely frightening’ for the family, even though Hickey had not succeeded in entering the property.
He added: “I do take into account you have spent a long time in prison for something you were acquitted of and you have a longstanding history of mental difficulties.”
Hickey, of Brandwood House, Grove Road, Kings Heath, was sentenced to nine months in jail, suspended for two years after being convicted of attempted burglary. He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation.
The court heard he had 17 convictions for 28 offences.
Hickey spent 18 years in prison for the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Carl at Yew Tree Farm, near Stourbridge, in 1978.
The case of the Bridgewater Four was one of the biggest miscarriages of justice involving the notorious former West Midlands Police serious crimes squad.
A crowdfunding campaign on the 40th anniversary in September of the schoolboy’s death raised money for a memorial bench at Himley Park in his memory.
