Killer who bludgeoned woman to death could be freed from jail

Killer who bludgeoned woman to death with a hammer in random attack at a petrol station could be freed from jail

• EXCLUSIVE: Craig Belcher was jailed for life for murdering Kirsty Carver in 1998 
• Search for body lasted for more than a month and she was found in undergrowth
• Belcher handed life sentence with a minimum of 18 years, now eligible for parole

A notorious killer who bludgeoned a woman to death with a hammer at a petrol station could soon be freed from jail.

Craig Belcher, now 47, was jailed for life for the horrific murder of Kirsty Carver at a petrol station in East Yorkshire in March 1998.

The search for the 22-year-old civilian police worker – who seemed to just disappear into thin air – lasted for more than a month.

Kirsty’s Toyota Celica was discovered, unlocked, with the keys in the ignition on a quiet farm track near Willerby.

More than 3,500 people joined one of the biggest police searches ever and her parents Vanessa and Arthur made emotional appeals.

Craig Belcher (pictured when he was jailed at the age of 24), now 47, was jailed for life for the horrific murder of Kirsty Carver at a petrol station in East Yorkshire in March 1998

The search for the 22-year-old civilian police worker (pictured) – who seemed to just disappear into thin air – lasted for more than a month

The hunt ended in tragedy when her body was eventually found in the undergrowth, off an equally quiet road near Spurn Point.

Petrol station attendant Belcher, then 24, would later go on trial and be convicted of the murder.

He was handed a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 18 years, which means he is now eligible for parole.

The Parole Board has confirmed an application has been received which, if successful, will see the brutal killer released.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Craig Belcher and is scheduled to take place in February 2023.

More than 3,500 people joined one of the biggest police searches ever and her parents Vanessa and Arthur made emotional appeals. Pictured: Police dig up Craig Belcher’s garden 

Kirsty, who worked at Queens Gardens police station, Hull, disappeared on March 5, 1998, after leaving a friend’s house in Wold Road at 1.40am

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

‘Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

‘The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’

Pictured: Kirsty’s mother Vanessa giving an emotional appeal in a bid to find her missing daughter back in 1998

Pictured: Police standing guard outside the home of Craig Belcher after he was arrested in connection with Kirsty’s murder in 1998

If successful, Belcher could be freed as early as March next year.

Kirsty, who worked at Queens Gardens police station, Hull, disappeared on March 5, 1998, after leaving a friend’s house in Wold Road at 1.40am.

She went to the petrol station in Willerby and it was there Belcher murdered her. Blood was later found in a back room.

Kirsty’s parents Vanessa and Arthur made a number of emotional appeals for information and Vanessa wrote a heartfelt open letter in a paper, calling in vain for her daughter’s safe return.

Police dogs and handlers discovered Kirsty’s half-buried body during a search with the Army at isolated Spurn Point just over a month after her abandoned car was found.

At his trial in March 1999, a jury at Sheffield Crown Court took five hours to find Belcher guilty of murder.

There were cries of delight from Kirsty’s family in the public gallery as the jury delivered the verdict.

Belcher looked at the victim’s family and shook his head muttering to himself.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Hooper told Belcher: ‘You are an intelligent and cunning man. You are a convincing liar as well as a very dangerous one.’

The court had heard how Belcher smashed Miss Carver’s skull with a hammer at a garage where he worked before driving round with her body in his car boot and burying her, bound and naked at a desolate spot 30 miles away.

Belcher, who is serving a life sentence at Frankland Prison in Durham, has never given any explanation for the killing.

At the trial, the prosecution suggested Kirsty may have rejected advances from Belcher, who had been spurned by a prostitute he was obsessed with.

The judge said Belcher had done his utmost to conceal his crime, compounding the anguish of Kirsty’s family.

When interviewed, Belcher, of Boothferry Road, Hull, told police an ‘extraordinary cock and bull story’ about how a gang of men involved in drugs brought Kirsty and a dark-skinned man to the filling station and attacked them inside.

Belcher, who claimed to be a drug runner for one of the gang, said he was told the attack was connected to a drugs turf war in which Kirsty had unwittingly been caught up because she was friends with the dark-skinned man.

He insisted that when the gang drove off with Kirsty, she was still alive and said his only involvement was that he cleaned blood up from the garage and disposed of evidence.

After the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Rick Monkman, who led the investigation, said: ‘Kirsty was a young woman who had everything to look forward to in life but that life was brutally ended.

‘But she made one mistake which cost her life. That mistake was to call at a petrol station – something that you or I do without even thinking.’

In 2019, Belcher had a previous parole bid rejected as he was still considered a danger to the public.

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