Paula Poolton: New affair claims in 12-year-old murder case
A charity reviewing the case of a man convicted of murdering his lover is investigating claims the victim had been having an affair with another man.
Roger Kearney was jailed for life in 2010 after Paula Poolton, 40, was found stabbed to death in the boot of her car in Swanwick, Hampshire, in 2008. Kearney, now 67, has always maintained his innocence. Charity Inside Justice has appealed for new information and evidence following the claims made on social media. Kearney's daughter Louisa Wiggington, who asked the charity to look into the case, said: "My Dad is a caring person. He's a first-aider, he was a safety steward, he was a union rep - not a callous murderer." Kearney and Mrs Poolton were stewards at Southampton FC and had been having an affair before she she was killed. Inside Justice CEO Louise Shorter said: "There are postings on social media sites, such as the Saints website, in which individuals who claim to have a connection to the case or to have been a friend of Paula state that she was having an affair with a third man at the time of her death..." A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said the force had "looked extensively at Paula's contacts and movements... and this was all considered as part of the investigation". "The Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Court of Appeal have considered any basis for an appeal as well as any new avenues to consider and were satisfied we had followed all reasonable lines of enquiry," the spokesman added. The charity's review of Kearney's case was the subject of a 2016 BBC TV documentary Conviction: Murder at the Station in which the charity revealed forensic exhibits collected by police had been lost, destroyed or contaminated following his unsuccessful appeal. The items included a carrier bag bearing a handprint in blood which could not be forensically linked to Kearney and was never used in his trial. The charity said forensic advances mean it would now be possible to generate a DNA profile of the person who made the handprint, but Hampshire Constabulary destroyed the bag because the blood was deemed to be hazardous. The force said it did not believe its destruction had a detrimental effect on the case and it has since reviewed its management of forensic exhibits.