A CALCULATING man has been found guilty of an historic murder case of double jeopardy.

Andrew Everson, 54, of Hill View, Charminster in Dorset, was found guilty of one count of murder by a unanimous jury on April 3 at Reading Crown Court after a four week trial.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court on April 4.

The conviction is in relation to the murder of Reading man David Watkins, which happened 26 years ago.

Everson shot 30-year-old Mr Watkins with a shotgun in a remote location in Pingewood, on January 14 1993.

Everson, who was living in Crowthorne at the time of the offence, was arrested and charged with the murder in 1993, but was found not guilty of murder by a jury following a trial in February 1994.

However, after a reinvestigation by Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Review Team, Everson’s acquittal was quashed by the Court of Appeal and a re-trial was ordered.

The re-trial commenced at Reading Crown Court on March 4 this year.

Following today’s conviction, the Head of Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Review Team, Peter Beirne, said: "Andrew Everson was arrested and charged with the murder of David Watkins at the time, but he was found not guilty of murder by a jury following a trial in February 1994.

"My team commenced a reinvestigation of the case in 2012, which included the re-examination of the forensic evidence.

"During this review, fibres that were discovered on David’s clothes were found to match fibres recovered from Everson’s vehicle, a Peugeot 309 GTI.

"Everson had always denied that David had been in his car.

"Firearms discharge residue was also discovered in Everson’s vehicle, which supported our case.

"Everson had also denied having access to any firearms in 1993.

"With this new evidence, we arrested Everson on October 20, 2015 and during police interviews he then admitted he had been a drug dealer and had met David on the night of the murder to complete a drugs transaction.

"He also admitted buying a shotgun in 1992, but refuted the allegation that he had murdered David - two facts that he had denied during the first trial in 1994.

"Following these police interviews, Everson was charged with one count of murder on October 21 2015.

"The case was then taken to the Court of Appeal, which, in June last year, quashed Everson’s acquittal, and ordered a re-trial.

"I am delighted that today the jury has found Everson guilty of murder, and finally, after 26 years, David’s family and friends have some sense of justice.

"David left his house on the evening of January 14 1993 with about £6,000 in cash to buy drugs from someone called ‘Drew’, who we believe to be Andrew Everson.

"Tragically, David never returned home to his partner and two boys, who were aged just three and one at the time.

"Our case is that Everson lured David to an isolated location in Pingewood under the pretence of carrying out the drug deal.

"However, after arriving at Pingewood, David was executed.

"He was forced to kneel down and was shot in the back of the head with a shotgun.

"Local residents reported hearing the sound of a gun being fired at just after 9pm that evening.

"Sadly, David's body was discovered by a local resident the following day.

"Everson has never confessed to murdering David, therefore his motive is unclear, but we believe he was driven by a need to find cash because he was in debt at that time.

"This is supported by the fact that after the murder Everson was found in possession of £3,500 in cash, some of which had David’s fingerprints on it."