On 12 August 1966, three London police officers were shot dead in Braybrook Street, Shepherd's Bush, after stopping a car to question its occupants. Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
PCDavidWombwellPlaque — Credit: alexander williams · CC BY-SA 4.0
On 12 August 1966, an unmarked Metropolitan Police "Q-car" was patrolling East Acton, West London, an area routinely reported by the media as Shepherd's Bush. The crew — Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and driver Police Constable Geoffrey Fox, 41 — stopped to question three men sitting in a parked van on Braybrook Street, near Wormwood Scrubs prison, after noticing the vehicle had no valid tax disc.
As DS Head questioned the van's driver, John Witney, about his documents, front-seat passenger Harry Roberts produced a Luger pistol and shot DC Wombwell dead at point-blank range. When DS Head ran back toward the police car, Roberts pursued and shot him as well. Back-seat passenger John Duddy then got out and shot PC Fox three times through the car window. As Fox died, his foot depressed the accelerator, causing the police car to lurch forward over Head's body.
Witney drove the three men away from the scene, but a passer-by recorded the van's registration number. Witney was arrested at his home within hours and confessed on 14 August, naming his accomplices. Duddy fled to Glasgow and was arrested on 17 August using information from his brother. Roberts, a former soldier with Malayan Emergency service, evaded a large manhunt for three months, hiding in Epping Forest and Thorley Wood before being found asleep in a disused airfield hangar near Bishop's Stortford on 15 November 1966.
The trial of all three men opened at the Old Bailey. Roberts pleaded guilty to the murders of Head and Wombwell but not Fox; Witney and Duddy denied all charges. On 12 December 1966, following a six-day trial and a 30-minute jury deliberation, all three were convicted of murder and firearms offences and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge recommending a minimum 30-year term.
The killings prompted national outrage, calls for the reintroduction of capital punishment, and the creation of the Metropolitan Police Firearms Wing. Six hundred officers lined the funeral route, and a memorial service at Westminster Abbey was attended by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Public donations led to the founding of the Police Dependants' Trust.
Duddy died in Parkhurst prison in 1981. Witney was released on licence in 1991, having served under the recommended 30 years, and was killed by his flatmate in an unrelated incident in Bristol in 1999. Roberts remained imprisoned for 48 years, becoming one of Britain's longest-serving prisoners, before the Parole Board approved his release in October 2014; he was freed on 11 November 2014, a decision criticised by police representatives, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the Mayor of London, and relatives of the victims.
On 12 August 1966, three London police officers were shot dead in Braybrook Street, Shepherd's Bush, after stopping a car to question its occupants. Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Where did the murders happen?
Braybrook Street, Shepherd's Bush, London.
Who was convicted?
John Witney (Convicted of murder and firearms offences; sentenced to life imprisonment; released on licence in 1991), Harry Roberts (Convicted of murder and firearms offences; sentenced to life imprisonment; released on parole in 2014 after 48 years), and John Duddy (Convicted of murder and firearms offences; sentenced to life imprisonment; died in Parkhurst prison in 1981).
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