'PSYCHOPATH' KILLER JAILED

Life for brutal murder of doctor

- By NAOMI CORRIGAN

A TEESSIDE killer whose chilling murder of a respected doctor was part of a larger plot to kill police is set to be released from prison.

Reginald Wilson has served 34 years for the horrific murder of esteemed consultant and father-of-three, David Birkett.

After bludgeoning the doctor to death, Wilson went on to taunt police and penned a note with his plot to “kill as many pigs as I can”.

In an abandoned house in Union Street, Middlesbrough, detectives found Wilson’s hideaway which had been daubed with graffiti, including the German word “kopf-jager” meaning headhunter.

The Gazette has now been told, following a Parole Board review, the killer has been deemed fit for release.

Confirming the recommendation, a Parole Board spokesperson said review panels examine a “huge range of evidence” and “protecting the public is our number one priority.”

The Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy, who opposed the move at the parole review, has until Tuesday, November 25, to challenge it.

Dr Birkett was an eminent consultant dermatologist who lived on Cornfield Road in Linthorpe. Wilson, then aged 25, had been living at Riverdale Court in Whinney Banks.

On February 3, 1990, he tricked his way into Dr Birkett’s home after posing as a motorcycle despatch rider. The horrific attack took place in the hallway after the trusting doctor let him in with a parcel.

Wilson struck the 56-year-old about the head with a blunt instrument, most likely a hammer, which was wrapped in a plastic bag.

Dr Birkett was then dragged into his study with two pieces of cord wrapped around his arms and subjected to a second attack.

The 17 blows crushed the doctor’s skull. Cleveland Police later said the attack was one of the most violent the force had ever seen.

The doctor’s own daughter, who was just 16 at the time, discovered his body.