Pain of murdered postman's widow

Paul Savage suffered serious head injuries

The widow of a postman beaten to death on his round has told his inquest he was a caring, kind and loving husband and a wonderful father.

A verdict of unlawful killing was recorded at the hearing in Mold, north Wales, on Paul Savage, 30.

Mr Savage, who moved to Gwernaffield, near Mold from the Manchester area with his wife and young daughter, was struck repeatedly with a wooden baton.

Charlotte Savage said she would never get over her loss.

An investigation into the death has been under way for the past 16 months, although it has been scaled down.

He loved his time with his daughter and she loved her time with him Charlotte Savage

He was found unconscious next to his bicycle near a Mold primary school on 4 February 2003, and died later at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

After the hearing, Det Chief Insp Dave Loftus said police still believed the answer to the murder remained in the Mold area and "some local people have valuable evidence."

But he said that they were not coming forward out of misguided loyalty or fear.

He offered to meet anyone personally, away from Mold, to discuss any issues that they wished to raised.

Mrs Savage was at the inquest with her parents, and she paid tribute to him in a statement read by north east Wales coroner John Hughes.

Mr Savage was found unconscious early on 4 February 2003

"He loved his time with his daughter and she loved her time with him," she said.

She described him as a wonderful and very funny husband, and said it was very hard to live without him.

Mrs Savage said that on the day he was attacked he had been a little late getting up for the job he loved. The alarm went at 0400 as usual, but he didn't get out of bed until half an hour later "in a bit of a panic".

Fresh start

She was still in bed when the house phone rang at about 0740 and she assumed it would be her husband, making his usual call to make sure she was up to take their daughter to school.

But it turned out to be a post office colleague saying that her husband had had an accident at work. She drove to his workplace and she was taken to hospital, where he died later that day.

She told the inquest they had met in 1995, married three years later and had a daughter, Regan, in 1998.

They lived in various addresses in the north west of England, and he had run a "pound" shop called Give Us a Quid, while she took a beauty therapy course.

The Royal Mail has offered a reward to trace the killer

In February 2001 they had a row and he left for one night and she became aware that he had been arrested by the police.

The inquest heard that in September that year, he was found not guilty of possessing drugs with intent to supply, convicted of possessing cannabis, and the time he had spent in custody meant his immediate release.

They returned to Sale but he was depressed, lost a lot of weight and he was treated for depression.

He got a job but they wanted to make a fresh start and she suggested north Wales, where they moved two years ago, and her husband became a postman.

She told the inquest: "He was absolutely made up with this job. He could not believe his luck," she said.

"It boosted him all together and he cut down his drinking, eating and smoking and went on a fitness drive."

Mark Kempster, delivery manager at Mold post office, said Mr Savage was very nice, pleasant and reliable and he had no hesitation in giving him a job.

Home Office pathologist Dr Paul Johnston said the cause of death was non-accidental, blunt trauma to the head.

Coroner Mr Hughes said: "He had actually been attacked, and brutally attacked at that."

Anyone with information can contact the incident room on 01352 707500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.