Gloucester is a Cathedral City and the county town of Gloucestershire. Nestled in the Southwest of England about 115 miles north-west of London, the city lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west. Of course, for us true crime fans when we think of Gloucester we think of Fred and Rose West and horrors that took place there – and tomorrow, New Year’s Day, will be twenty-nice years since Fred West took his own life in prison at fifty-three. But there are some other memorable things about Gloucester, including the Cathedral which is an incredible stone-built masterpiece having been a place of worship for over 1,300 years. The place has become immortalised in some of the biggest films and TV shows around, including Harry Potter, Sherlock and Dr Who.
Clare Hergest was the youngest of three children, and she had one brother – twenty-eight-year-old Mark and a thirty year old sister, Sharon. Back in January 1977, a two-year-old Clare and her family lived in Gloucester with her twenty-eight-year-old mum Hilary and dad, John Hergest. On Saturday 15 January the police were tipped off that a woman was ‘ill’ in their home. Police duly acted on the information and called round to the house. With no reply to their knocks on the door, they took the decision to force entry. It was Detective Constable Alfred Shale, who was the unfortunate man to find Hilary Hergest dead, lying face down in her bed. Also in the house were Hilary’s three children (including two year old Clare) – unharmed physically – but only yards away from where their mother had, it appeared to the officer, been killed. The subsequent post-mortem report confirmed that Hilary had indeed been killed and the cause of death was strangulation.
The murder hit the headlines both nationally and of course shocked the immediate locality enormously. A young mother killed in her home whilst three children were also present – then, as now, would rightly be seen as a dreadful crime. The police quickly apprehended the killer, a man called Kevin Millen who had once dated Hilary. Millen admitted manslaughter of Hilary but denied murder insisting that he had not intentionally killed her and had strangled her during an argument by putting his arm around her neck. Kevin Millen was later found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to five years imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court. This was all very well, but in the meantime Clare and her siblings were deprived of their mum in the most shocking of ways, with Clare being only two at the time of her death and would have had little to no memory of her.
Slight in build and with striking dark features, Clare held more than a passing resemblance to her mum as she grew up. Despite the difficult times the family faced due to the loss of her mum, Clare was a happy-go-lucky girl by character with a real sense of fun. She loved to dance, she loved a party and she was super popular. The sort of person that people instantly warm to.
By 1995, Clare was a twenty-one year old single mum living in a city centre flat in Trier Way, Gloucester. The flat was a second-floor housing association property. Clare’s twenty-one month year old son Keiron was her pride and joy, and Clare was as doting and loving a mother as one could wish to find. Clare was in a relationship with Barrington Moses, a thirty-one year-old former West Midlands probationary police officer. He had served in Solihull between February 1991 and August 1992 before resigning from the force. Barrington, like Clare, also lived in Gloucester – on Conduit Street – a short walk from Clare’s flat. The pair had been together for eight months until, on Boxing Day 1995, Clare had decided she no longer wished to be with Barrington and, sadly for him, she ended things. A lot of this happens around Christmas doesn’t it. Clare’s eye had taken to a local bouncer, Roger Parkes, who felt the same way about her, and the pair began seeing each other shortly after Clare ended things with Barrington.
Rather than accept that Clare wanted other things and moving on, Moses was angry and jealous at his rejection, something that he felt was compounded further by her beginning a new relationship so shortly afterwards. And so, in the early months of 1996 Moses tried rigorously to win Clare back. The pair met up on several occasions but ultimately it was not a direction that Clare wished to take, as he was a fair bit older who wanted different things, and she could not see herself settling down with him.
On the evening of Saturday 23 March 1996, Clare was out with her new boyfriend Roger. Babysitting for Clare’s toddler Keiron was sixteen-year-old Samantha Baldwin, Clare’s stepsister. Barrington turned up at the flat that night desperate to see Clare, but as she was out, he nonetheless pushed past the babysitter and went up to Clare’s room, saying he wanted ‘to cuddle up to my honey bun,’ before falling asleep on Clare’s bed.
The following day – Sunday 24 March, Barrington had visited Clare at her flat, again in the hope of reviving their relationship. Clare again tried to make it very clear that the two of them would never again be a couple. Barrington was becoming increasingly irate and he began to ask Clare if he did not live up to her new lover, Roger Parkes. Clare responded by telling him that Parkes was indeed ‘better’ than Moses – to which he assumed she meant sexually – and it was this response which tipped him over the edge. Flying into a jealous rage, he grabbed hold of Clare and began strangling her. Dragging her into the bathroom he then forced her into the bath which was already partially filled with water. Moses forcefully held her head beneath the water until she could struggle no longer. In minutes, Clare Hergest had been murdered in a horribly similarly brutal manner to her own mother some nineteen years previously. Clare’s son Keiron slept in his cot only yards away from where she breathed her last breath.
Barrington Moses, with experience of working in the police, knew only too well that it would be a fruitless effort if he was to try and evade capture. Shortly after having killed Clare, he wandered to a nearby telephone box and made a call to police informing them of what he had done. Detective Sgt Richard Prosser was the first officer to arrive at the scene, where here he met two paramedics on the pavement outside the flat. The three were led into the flat by Michelle Cox, Clare’s neighbour and friend. Detective Sgt Prosser went to the bathroom initially. The room was empty, but the bath had around eight-twelve inches of water in it. The water was full of items that you would normally expect to find in a bathroom, only they were all floating in the shallow pool of water; toilet tissues, disposable razors, plastic bags and a wicker basket. The floor was wet all the way from the bathroom through to the landing area and to the living room. The Detective then saw the two paramedics spend up to ten minutes trying to revive Clare but their efforts however, were all in vain. Noticing red marks on her neck and upper chest, it was clear to the Detective that she had suffered at least some form of assault upon her neck area. Clare’s baby, Keiron, was passed to Michelle, Clare’s neighbour. Having admitted what he had done, Barrington Moses had made things easier for police in the sense that a murder hunt was not necessary, instead they had the man responsible detained immediately following his admission.
The following day, Monday 25 March, Moses appeared at Gloucester Magistrates Court where he was remanded in custody. Three months later, in June 1996 he was committed by the Magistrates Court to stand trial at Bristol Crown Court. Before this however, Clare’s family and friends had to say goodbye to twenty-one-year-old Clare at her funeral. On Thursday 16 May, at the Gloucester Crematorium, mourners gathered to pay their heartfelt respects. For those with long enough memories of course, this day represented another tragedy to befall the Hergest family. One man who certainly knew this procession only too well, was Clare’s Dad John. On the evening before his daughter’s funeral he spoke of the heartbreak that was repeating itself, saying: “I had to explain to my own children about their mother’s death. Now I’ve got to go through the same agonising process again. I never got over my first wife’s death so losing Clare is doubly hard. I still can’t believe it. Clare was only a baby when my first wife died.” Clare’s two-year-old son was not present at the funeral, but John spoke of how he and his partner intended to adopt Keiron, saying: “He’s too young to understand what’s happened to his mummy. If he does ask about her, we say she’s unwell. But he’s a quite bright and forward child, and it won’t be very long before he starts asking questions. We’ll have to tell him his mummy has gone to Jesus.” Clare’s son would undoubtedly ask questions in the months and years that followed, but in the immediate term, questions needed to be asked in regard to seeking justice and clarity into what happened on the night Clare was killed. So, at Bristol Crown Court in the south west of England, the trial of Barrington Moses began on Wednesday 26 February 1997, just short of a year since Clare’s death.
In the months leading up to the trial, the case had been adjourned so that medical evidence could be gathered, some of which we will hear later today. A jury of eight men and four women were sworn in to hear the details of the case and Barrington Moses, whilst admitting to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, denied murder, something which the Crown did not accept. The Prosecution Barrister was Nigel Mylne CQ, and in opening remarks he suggested that Moses had killed Clare in rage after she had tried to end their eight-month relationship. The court heard how Moses described the events of the night to police following his arrest: “We had made love. I suggested we go back out together but she said no. I said, ‘Is Roger better in bed than me?’ She said, ‘Much better’ and I just snapped. I just grabbed hold of her and started strangling her and pushed her in the bath. I tried to revive her – I loved her – I never loved anyone else like her before.” It was also heard in court that Moses had allegedly told a friend that he could not bear Clare finding a new love – saying: ‘If I can’t have her, I don’t want anyone else to have her. I’ll see to that.’ – Unfortunately, something we have heard from so many pathetic and dangerous men over the years.
The evidence suggested that after their split, that Moses had developed an obsession with Clare, watching her constantly, visiting her flat and even, as we heard earlier, sleeping in Clare’s bed when she wasn’t in. The prosecution alleged that he was ‘pestering’ her and he refused to let her go. The trial then heard evidence offered by the detective who found Clare’s body lying on the lounge floor of her flat. She had been wearing a sleeveless nightdress and a loose dressing gown, but it was the red marks across her chest and neck that revealed at least part of the assault she had endured. The Home Office pathologist confirmed the cause of death though, as being a “classic case of drowning.”
On day four of the trial, jurors finally heard from Barrington Moses. He claimed that he remembered nothing about drowning her until he “had a flashback of her eyes under the water.” He admitted that he had snapped when he saw Clare with her new boyfriend and so went to her home where he subsequently strangled her. But afterwards he claimed that his mind had gone blank, and he did not remember anything. He said: “I loved her more than I have ever loved any other woman in my entire life. I snapped when I saw her with her boyfriend. Everything went blank until I saw Clare’s eyes under the water.” He told the court that he had a special relationship with Clare, despite the fact his mum did not approve of her, as she had a young son saying: “I told my mother I was not seeing Clare as I didn’t want to have to choose between them”.
With recollections of what happened now seemingly flooding back to him, Moses went on: “She was under the water looking up at me with her eyes open. I stood back, there was blood on the bath. I started to give mouth to mouth in the bath. I was trying to get her breathing again. I lifted her out of the bath and took her into the lounge and put her on the floor. I am ashamed and sorry; I have let down Clare and I have let my family down. I didn’t mean to do it.” Moses then offered to the court, details on his mental health state at the time of the killing and the weeks leading up to it. It transpired that he had jumped off a bridge in Gloucester Docks in a suicide attempt two weeks before killing Clare. He said he had written a suicide note to her: “That night I couldn’t sleep. I cried. I wrote a letter. It said that I loved her and her son a great deal and I didn’t know if I was coming or going, and life wasn’t worth living. I admit I was obsessed with her. When you love someone it’s not a case of your head ruling your heart. I didn’t want to be apart from her and that little boy. I got on the top rail of the bridge, and I jumped off. I must have panicked.” Not sure I believe any of this, do you. Anyway, his self-obsessed testimony continued.
He reckoned that after this failed suicide attempt, he went to see Clare who told him not to do it again. He also admitted that in the weeks leading up to Clare’s death he dabbled in alcohol and drugs. But shockingly, he also went on to tell how he had sexually abused Clare after she was dead, claiming that their relationship had broken down sexually and this in part had been a reason for the breakup. This revelation of sexual contact with Clare after her death was important, as initially he had claimed that it had been consensual. Forensic evidence had revealed that semen was present in Clare’s body which had suggested intercourse had occurred either shortly before death, or even after she was dead – that the latter was now confirmed only added to the utter revulsion felt towards Moses by most of those watching on from the public gallery.
But be that as it may, the issue before the jury was essentially based upon medical evidence directed to the question of whether or not at the time of committing the killing, Barrington Moses was suffering from psychiatric vulnerabilities which substantially diminished his responsibility so as to justify a verdict of manslaughter. Psychiatric evidence was then laid before the court, presented by someone who claimed to be an expert. I wonder if it is possible to find out how many other so-called experts had refused to be a part of the defence before this person agreed to take the fee.
Maybe you are less cynical than me about some of these so-called experts who are brought to give evidence than me. Anyway, this person told the court that it was his belief that Moses was indeed clinically depressed at the time of the killing.
The prosecution swiftly rebuked this notion though, saying that he was not suffering any mental disorder when he was interviewed by police in either January or August the previous year and the prosecuting QC told the jury in his closing speeches that Moses was ‘calculating, arrogant and selfish.’
Nigel Hamilton QC, defending, of course told the jury that they would have to say that a distinguished psychiatrist was wrong in his assessment if they found Moses guilty of murder. Perish the thought. He continued that Moses had no previous convictions to speak of and his defence said he was ‘passionately in love’ with Clare and that this was essentially a crime of passion that should not be categorised as murder.
The jury deliberated for more than five hours before delivering their verdict. The foreman of the jury announced that they believed Barrington Moses to be guilty of the murder of Clare Hergest, leading to loud cheers from Clare’s family in court. By contrast, Moses in the dock, showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. This being the case, the Judge told Moses that there was only one sentence that he could possibly pass, and this was one of life imprisonment. Clare’s dad John attended all seven days in court, and he confirmed his delight in the verdict shortly after the trial had concluded, saying: “Moses got what he deserves. He has never contacted me to say he is sorry or shown even the slightest remorse over what happened. He is the lowest of the low for what he did.” Hard to disagree with that. He also spoke of his struggles in coming to terms with not just one murder of a loved one, but two: “What has happened with Clare brought the horror all back to me. It has taken me nineteen years to come to terms with my first wife’s death. Now, I have to start all over again. Keiron will come out with phrases like: “mummy has gone to the angels,” but he’s too young to understand what happened. He sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night shouting: “no, mummy, no. The Dr says there is a possibility that he woke up with all of the shouting going on the night Clare died. It’s possible he saw what was happening and was put back to bed. It may be that the memory is locked away in his subconscious and he is reliving it in his sleep.” Clare’s dad also explained how important it was to him that Keiron should always have his mum not far from his thoughts and he has compiled a vast dossier of newspaper reports about Clare’s death along with photographs of his daughter and the mementoes, saying: “I don’t want him to forget Clare and this will explain to him what has happened.”
Moses unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and is he still in prison or is he now free? It is unclear. The last I could find out about Kieron is that he was doing well and heading off to university.
So, what do you make of what we have heard today?
It’s a very sad and upsetting story isn’t it. I have not an ounce of sympathy for Moses, do you? Once again, he is a pathetic figure, unable to accept that ex-girlfriend has moved on and the dent to his ego causes his to use violence we would never even think about using. And to me it is clear it was pre-meditated murder, with all his garbage about ‘if I can’t have her, nobody can’. I mean please, why can’t people like him just accept that what was there was over.
But enough of him. Poor Clare, just twenty-one and enjoying life with her young son when her future was snatched from her for what? Just happening to find a new partner, just like many other people her age. And the way she was killed must have been so utterly terrifying for her. And then her dad seeing his wife and daughter murdered, we could hear in the episode how he just couldn’t believe that this had happened twice. And then there is Clare’s son Kieron who was blessed with such a fun, caring mum who would have been amazing for him as he grew up. And yet she was taken from him when he was so young, leaving him with just photographs and memories. As I seem to say so often, it just isn’t fair, is it.
This story was featured in episode 424 of the UK True Crime Podcast, ‘Nineteen Years Later’ and the following sources were used:
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/EX-COP+KILLED+GIRL.-a061127508
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5a8ff70d60d03e7f57ea6cab