COLD case detectives are set to examine new evidence that could solve the 42-year-old murder of a café owner, the Echo can reveal.

Ivy Davies, 48, was battered to death at her home in Holland Road, Westcliff, in February 1975, but despite several leads the culprit has never been brought to justice.

Officers are now set to investigate claims Ivy met an escapee from Runwell Mental Hospital who visited her Orange Tree café, under the Westcliff arches, shortly before her brutal murder.

He is said to have posed as a charming doctor escorting a group of patients- who also turned out to have absconded from the facility.

Ivy’s son, Victor Davies, 60, said the episode was allegedly covered up by the authorities, but it has come to light after one of Ivy’s former employees came forward.

He said: “This woman was only a girl then and worked in my mother’s café. She says she made a statement in 1975 but the cold case detectives have no record of it.

“This ‘doctor’ made out that they were on a day trip and my mother got talking to this man. She arranged to meet him later that day in Southend.

“I know he later turned up at my mother’s house but he turned out to be one of the patients. I do remember this happening and we all made fun of her for being so gullible.”

Mr Davies said he does not know exactly when the incident took place, but it was just weeks before his mother’s murder- raising the possibility the man may still have been free when it took place.

Mr Davies, who lives in Brands Hatch, Kent, said the woman is currently abroad but has vowed to speak to police when she returns.

He said: “We are running out of time to find out what really happened, we don’t even know if these people are still alive.

“Any information keeps the cold case team looking at my mother’s murder.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Cold case investigations are kept under regular review. When new information comes to light it is thoroughly investigated.

“Essex Police is aware of new information in relation to the murder of Ivy Davies in Westcliff in 1975 and investigations are ongoing. Officers continue to support Mrs Davies’ family.”

42-year-old crime still unsolved

THE murder of Ivy Davies is one of Essex’s oldest unsolved killings.

The mum-of-seven was found at her home in Holland Road, Westcliff, in February 1975. She had been battered to death with a steel engineering tool, found near her body.

A ligature was found around her neck but it was not the cause of death. The house had been ransacked.

The horrific crime became known as the Orange Tree murder, after Ivy’s Westcliff cafe.

In total, detectives collected 963 statements and also interviewed a woman who volunteered to be questioned in connection with the incident.

A 68-year-old Basildon man was arrested on suspicion of murder in November 2006 after allegations surfaced that Ivy had been killed during a domestic incident.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge him on the grounds of insufficient evidence and he was released from bail.

It is understood that detectives had three potential suspects- all of whom are still believed to be alive.