AN author is attempting to use 21st Century detective methods to crack the oldest unsolved murder in County Durham.

Robert Stirling, a young Victorian doctor, was savagely killed in a robbery in 1855 at Rowlands Gill.

Two men, John Cain and Richard Rayne, were tried and acquitted of the murder.

But now author and journalist Cliff Goodwin, whose books include best-selling biographies of actors Sid James, Tony Hancock and Oliver Reed, is turning his hand to crime-writing in an attempt to close the 156- year-old case.

Mr Goodwin, of Tudor Drive, Tanfield Village, near Stanley, said: “I was vaguely aware of the story, but it wasn’t until I discovered Dr Stirling is buried in my local churchyard that I became fascinated by the murder and determined to finally solve it.”

The writer is in the process of gathering all the recorded evidence, both from the police investigation at the time and subsequent court cases.

His book will then examine the crime in detail with the hope of returning a “modern verdict”.

The recently-qualified surgeon, who was 25, was about to take up a post in the Crimea and was acting as a locum for a Burnopfield doctor when he was attacked.

Dr Stirling was shot in the stomach and groin with a shotgun, slashed across the throat and badly beaten, not far from where Tesco stands in Rowlands Gill today.

He had been dragged over a fence from what is now known as Stirling Lane in his honour.

Mr Goodwin said: “There was evidence that he was still alive because there was tufts of grass underneath his fingernails, which suggest he was trying to claw his way back up the bank.

“His body was discovered by his father, who, after learning he was missing, came down from Scotland and retraced the steps he would have taken from the surgery and somehow found him.”

Dr Stirling’s silver lancet was stolen in the robbery and sold the following day in Durham City. The killers also took the doctor’s pocket watch which, although surfacing in the 1980s, has once again disappeared.

The murder sparked national outrage and a £500 reward – more than £37,000 today – was offered for the conviction of the killers.

As well as hearing from the victim’s descendants, Mr Goodwin would also like information on the two men originally accused of the murder. John Cain was known locally as Whisky Jack because of his dealings in illicit spirits, while Richard Rayne was a blacksmith at Winlaton Mill, not far from Gateshead.

Mr Goodwin said: “Any legal or crime professionals, who think they can contribute are also very welcome to make contact.”

He can be contacted by email at stirlingmurder @me.com or by post at Cliff Goodwin, c/o Clovelly, Station Road, Rowlands Gill NE39 1PZ.