Murder of Harry Collinson

Henry "Harry" Collinson, a planning officer for Derwentside District Council, was shot and killed on 20 June 1991 at Butsfield, County Durham, England. The killing took place during a long-running dispute between the council and local landowner Albert Dryden over an unauthorised dwelling Dryden had built on his rural property on Eliza Lane. At approximately 9:00 am, in front of television news crews and council staff, Dryden produced a .455 Webley Mk VI revolver and shot Collinson in the chest at point-blank range. As people fled, Dryden climbed the property fence and shot Collinson again as he lay wounded in a ditch, then opened fire on the fleeing group, wounding Police Constable Stephen Campbell in the thigh and BBC North East reporter Tony Belmont in the arm. He also fired at a passing police vehicle and into demolition equipment before returning to shoot Collinson again in the face and chest. The shooting was captured on camera and broadcast on BBC's Look North programme.

A standoff followed as Dryden retreated to a caravan on his property, claiming the site was booby-trapped with explosives, land mines, and hand grenades. Armed police negotiators arrived, and at around 11:20 am, tactical firearms officer Sgt John Taylor, along with PCs Chris Barber, Andy Reay and Philip Brown, subdued Dryden at the perimeter fence after noticing his holster was empty. A subsequent search of Dryden's properties uncovered a substantial illegal weapons cache, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, homemade mortars, an improvised bomb, and a modified cannon; Dryden held no firearms licence.

Dryden was tried at Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court in March–April 1992, pleading not guilty to all charges on grounds of diminished responsibility. After thirteen days of evidence, a jury took two hours to find him guilty of Collinson's murder, the attempted murder of council solicitor Michael Dunston, and the wounding of Belmont and Campbell. Mrs Justice Ebsworth sentenced him to two terms of life imprisonment and two terms of seven years, to run concurrently, telling him his mental state was "abnormal, but not abnormal to the extent of diminishing your responsibility." His appeal was dismissed in February 1994, and four parole applications were rejected as he reportedly showed no remorse.

In 2017, Dryden suffered a severe stroke and was released from prison on compassionate grounds to a residential care home. Collinson's brother publicly stated that Dryden had never shown remorse during his 26 years in custody. Dryden died in the care home on 15 September 2018, aged 78.