Yahoo News Man shot dead in a 'gangster-style execution' as he walked home
A man, linked to a £500,000 bank robbery, was shot dead in a "gangster-style execution" as he walked home. Peter James Gibson, 23, was blasted once with a shotgun by an assassin as he walked on Alderville Road, Walton, at around 8pm on November 15 1988.
Horrifying reports in the ECHO at the time detailed how stunned residents found the young man "slumped on the pavement, hands still in his pockets". The residents of the north Liverpool community said Mr Gibson, who had been walking in the direction of his home on nearby Baythorne Road, would have never known what hit him. Investigations to track down the gun thug proved fruitless.
But the probe took a new twist the following year when a trial at Preston Crown Court heard Mr Gibson, who was known by his middle name, was allegedly involved in a £500,000 raid along with an armed robber and kidnapper. The ECHO reported at the time that a gang of six was pulling the strings behind the bank job.
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But Leonard Newsham, who was jailed for 13 years for his part in the robbery at the National Westminster Bank, refused to name the orchestrators for fear of reprisals. With the 36th anniversary of Mr Gibson's murder passing this week, the ECHO has revisited a story that ran on our front page with the headline 'Murdered by the mob'.
Initial reports in the ECHO the day after the murder revealed how horrified residents rushed out of their homes and discovered the 23-year-old in a pool of blood. Stunned families told of how the peace of the quiet, residential street was shattered by the single shotgun blast.
One of the first on the scene was Caroline Grace, who told a reporter: "It sounded more like a small explosion - you know, a gas blast or something like that. I ran towards where the sound came from and saw this lad lying in the street."
The police were called by neighbour Dot Cunningham, who answered a frantic knocking at her door. Ms Cunningham told an ECHO reporter: "A girl from across the road shouted 'there's a man been shot. Call the police.' I got on the phone to them and then went outside to help. When we got to him it was the worst thing I've seen in my life."
Mary Bushell, who was 76 at the time of the incident, added: "I heard the shot but thought it must have been kids with a firework left over from bonfire night." A screech of tyres was heard before and after the shooting by neighbours.
Mr Gibson lived with his dad just 100 yards away from where he was shot. They had lived together for 12 years at the time of his death after his mum died. His next door neighbour, Chris Tant, told the ECHO: "It is a terrible tragedy. Especially when you consider his father is so ill.
"James was a quietish [sic] fellow, always well mannered. He was neat, clean in appearance. He and my son were around the same age as each other and while you couldn't call them close friends they had grown up together."
Interviews initially given by Detective Superintendent Tony Bailey said a drug-dealing theory was being considered. In the days following the shooting detectives wanted to trace the mystery drivers of two top of the range cars, a white 300 series BMW and a white Escort XR2, in the hope of a breakthrough.
Investigations revealed the killer used a stolen car to go to and from the murder scene. However, in the following months the police investigation hit a blank.
It was not until a sensational twist at Preston Crown Court that the police finally had a break. The court heard how Mr Gibson had reportedly been with Newsham during the robbery which was "planned with military precision and ruthlessly executed".
Sixty-two members of the bank in the town centre were herded at gunpoint into a vault. A court heard how Mr Gibson and Newsham were the "minnows," in the operation. Mr Gibson was shot two months after the robbery - and Newsham was caught soon after when he was seen digging up £11,900 buried in the grounds of what was then Fazakerley Hospital.
However, instead of providing information on who was pulling the strings, Newsham stayed silent. Desperate to break the case, police offered a £50,000 reward to anybody who could provide information on the case. Detective Superintendent John Ashton, who had taken over the case, said: "There are people involved in the robbery who are still at large and as long as that remains the case then the file on the Preston Bank robbery remains open."
Mr Gibson's family described him at the time of his death "as a man with no enemies". His sister Elizabeth Ralston said: "If there was anything you wanted you could just go and ask him."
A photofit of the assassin was issued following the shooting. He was described as in his late 20s at the time, about 5ft 10in with a muscular build. Theories on why Mr Gibson was killed ranged from gangland killing to silencing him about the robbery to underworld drug dealing connections, but to this day, the case still remains unsolved.
Merseyside Police told the ECHO "it is never too late to do the right thing and come forward with information and help us identify who was responsible".
Anyone who believes they have information can DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
