Family of miner killed in 1960s 'may never get answers' as inquest held into his death

The grandson of Nottinghamshire miner Alfred Swinscoe, whose remains were found 56 years after he disappeared in 1967, says the question of who killed his grandfather will likely never be answered. Russell Lowbridge was speaking at the inquest of Mr Swinscoe on Monday, November 18, where Coroner Nathanael Hartley recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing".

Mr Swinscoe, 54, went missing on January 20, 1967 after leaving a local pub to use the outside toilet. His body was found by somebody working in a farmer's field in April 2023, and it was later determined he had been brutally killed, sustaining a stab wound to the neck as well as injuries to his skull, shoulder and back.

But at his inquest at Nottingham Council House, no new information which might lead to who killed Mr Swinscoe was uncovered. Mr Lowbridge told Nottinghamshire Live that he was hoping that the inquest would reveal something more - but while the 'how' has been answered, the 'why' remains an unknown.

He said: "I'm afraid the answers we were looking for are going to remain unanswered. It looks like we'll never get to know who did or why they did it. They are the main two questions. I was hoping today would be helpful, but I wasn't optimistic."

When Mr Swinscoe's remains were discovered and identified 18 months ago, police opened an investigation into his death. It was later discovered he sustained devastating injuries consistent with an assault.

After that, it was determined that his remains had been previously buried somewhere else before being moved at a later date to the site at which they were found, off Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, some six miles from where he had last been seen. But DCI Ruby Burrow of Nottinghamshire Police, who headed up the investigation into Mr Swinscoe's death, said during evidence given to the inquest that extensive enquiries had not managed to determine where his body had previously been buried.

She said: "To not be able to explain more what happened to Alfred has been really difficult. It has not been for the want of trying."

At the inquest, evidence from his post-mortem examination was read out. It said that many of Mr Swinscoe's bones, including his cranium and his lower jaw, were displaced when they were found.

It also explained the injury to his neck in further detail, saying that the sharp force applied to him broke neck vertebrae in several places. Further detail about injuries to his cheekbone, which was dislocated from the base of his skull, as well as his shoulder blade, collarbone and ribs led Coroner Hartley recording the medical cause of death as "multiple traumatic injuries".

Speaking to the coroner, Mr Lowbridge said: "I can't understand why anybody would want to do it. Alfred was such a nice man and didn't bother anybody. From what we've been told it was a wicked killing, a horrendous death, what he went through. Nobody deserves that kind of death, not least Alfred."