Phyllis to sell home to raise £50,000 reward

Phyllis Haywood confirmed she was putting her West End home on the market to ensure she had the cash ready should the gunman be convicted.

Mrs Haywood, 70, spoke out after the Daily Echo told how she was doubling a £25,000 reward on the tenth anniversary of her son's death.

"I am selling the house to raise the £50,000," she said today.

"The money is not important to me. I just want to know who killed my son and why."

Meanwhile, Hampshire detectives revealed they had received a dozen calls on the tenth anniversary of his death.

Police were today ploughing through possible new leads generated by a Daily Echo appeal to solve the case.

Today, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Kilbride, leading the murder hunt, said the anniversary appeal had generated 12 calls from the public.

"We are researching the content of some of the calls we had and will decide on any action within a week or so," he told the Daily Echo. "The research process has to be done carefully and accurately."

Last week, widowed Phyllis told the Daily Echo how she had never got over her son's murder on October 16, 1989.

Now living as a recluse, she said: "Not a day goes by when I don't think about my Ricky and what happened to him. Every day I pray that this nightmare will be over and I will know who killed him."

Police have spoken to 11,000 people since 36-year-old Ricky was found dead in the flat above his jewellery shop in Shirley High Street. He had been shot five times at point-blank range, prompting speculation he was the victim of a contract killer.

The case received nationwide television coverage on GMTV early today.

Phyllis took part in two live studio appeals, while DCI Kilbride was interviewed in Southampton. Anyone with information should contact 01703 335444 or the Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.

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