THE courtroom was crowded long before Horace Carter was brought before magistrates and many women who queued outside were turned away.

The day before, on August 2, 1951, he had been arrested over the murder of 11-year-old Sheila Attwood, who lived next door.

The body of the youngster had been found dumped behind their homes, in Caversham Road, Kingstanding, a day after she had gone missing.

Dressed in an open-necked shirt, grey striped coat and flannel trousers, Carter stood in the dock, handcuffed to an officer, listening intently as the case was outlined. When asked if he wanted legal aid, he replied: “No Sir. I don’t think that it’s worth it.”

In a statement presented to court, Carter confessed to the killing and explained what had happened. He said he had arrived home with his bike and left it in an entry while he went through the house to open the back door.

The statement continued: “There I saw Sheila holding on to the bike. She wheeled it to the entry door and I told her to bring it to the back of the house and then into the house, as I wanted to mend my back inner tube.

“When she leaned it against the wall I asked her to go into the front room. Then I asked her if she would like a few sweets.” The statement continued how the pair had gone upstairs and Carter “committed an offence against her”.

In graphic detail, he went on to say how, fearing she would talk of what had happened, he used a pillow and then string to kill her.

“There she died. I left her in a praying position,” he added.

“After some time, I put a motoring mac over her which had a belt. After that I left her, closed the door, so that my brother-in-law could not see. I waited in patience for dark to come and when it did I took her out of the house and into the Corporation yard.

“I am extremely sorry for what I did and I ought to get topped.