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Shepherd's Bush murders
The Shepherd's Bush murders, also known as the Massacre of Braybrook Street, involved the murder of three police officers in London by Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney in 1966.
The officers had stopped to question the three men as they were sitting in a car on Braybrook Street, near Wormwood Scrubs prison. Roberts shot dead Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell and Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, while Duddy shot dead Police Constable Geoffrey Fox.
The three men went on the run, initiating a large manhunt. All three were eventually arrested and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. Duddy died in prison in 1981. Witney, the driver of the criminals' vehicle, was also convicted of the murders; he was released from prison in 1991 but was killed in 1999 in an unconnected incident. Roberts became one of the longest-serving prisoners in British history, serving 48 years before his controversial release in 2014.
Public sympathy for the families of the victims resulted in the establishment of the Police Dependants' Trust – now amalgamated into the charity Police Care UK to assist the welfare of families of British police officers who have died in the line of duty.
On 12 August 1966, a Metropolitan Police crew in an unmarked Triumph 2000 Q-car, registration plate GGW 87C and call sign Foxtrot One One, was patrolling East Acton (although the incident was always reported by the media as occurring in Shepherd's Bush) in West London. Detective Sergeant Christopher Tippett Head, aged 30, and Temporary Detective Constable David S Bertram Wombwell, aged 25, were both members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) based at Shepherd's Bush police station in F Division, which covered the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith. Their driver was Police Constable Geoffrey Roger Fox, aged 41, class 1 advanced driver and beat constable who had served for many years in F Division and frequently acted as a Q-car driver due to his vast local knowledge. All three officers were in plain clothes and had only just returned to normal duties after being involved in the investigation into the Hammersmith nude murders.
At about 3:15 pm, the Q-car turned into Braybrook Street, a residential road on the Old Oak council estate which on one side bordered Wormwood Scrubs and Wormwood Scrubs prison. The officers spotted a battered blue Standard Vanguard estate van, registration plate PGT 726, parked at the roadside with three men sitting inside it. Since escapes were sometimes attempted from the prison with the assistance of getaway vehicles driven by accomplices, the officers decided to question the occupants. It is possible that PC Fox also recognised the van's driver, John Witney, as a known local criminal. The vehicle also had no tax disc on display, which was then a legal requirement.
DS Head and DC Wombwell exited the car and walked over to the van, where they questioned Witney about the lack of a tax disc. He replied that he had not yet obtained his MOT test certificate, which was required before a tax disc could be issued. DS Head asked Witney for his driving licence and vehicle insurance certificate; noticing that the latter had expired at midday that day, he told DC Wombwell to write down Witney's details and walked around to the other side of the van. Witney protested that he had been caught for the same offence only two weeks before and pleaded to be given a break. However, as he did so his front seat passenger, Harry Roberts, produced a Luger pistol and shot DC Wombwell in the face at point blank range, killing him instantly. DS Head ran back towards his car but Roberts gave chase and, after missing with the next shot, shot him in the head. John Duddy, the back seat passenger, also got out, grabbing a .38 Webley Service Revolver from the bag next to him (which also contained a third gun). He ran over to the Q-car and shot PC Fox three times through the window as he tried to reverse at speed towards him and Roberts, who also fired several shots at the police car. As he died, Fox's foot jerked down on the accelerator pedal causing the car to lurch forward over the prone body of DS Head, who was already dying of his wounds.
Duddy and Roberts got back into the van and Witney reversed rapidly down a side street and pulled out onto Wulfstan Street before driving away at speed. However, a passer-by, suspicious of a car driving so fast near the prison, had written down the registration plate. Witney, the van's owner, was arrested at his home six hours after the incident. Following a tip-off, the van was discovered the next day in a lock-up garage rented by Witney under a railway bridge in Vauxhall. It contained some spent .38 cartridges and equipment that could be used for stealing cars. Initially Witney claimed that he had sold the van for £15 to an unknown man in a pub earlier in the day, but confessed on 14 August, admitting what had happened and naming his accomplices.
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Shepherd's Bush murders
The Shepherd's Bush murders, also known as the Massacre of Braybrook Street, involved the murder of three police officers in London by Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney in 1966.
The officers had stopped to question the three men as they were sitting in a car on Braybrook Street, near Wormwood Scrubs prison. Roberts shot dead Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell and Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, while Duddy shot dead Police Constable Geoffrey Fox.
The three men went on the run, initiating a large manhunt. All three were eventually arrested and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. Duddy died in prison in 1981. Witney, the driver of the criminals' vehicle, was also convicted of the murders; he was released from prison in 1991 but was killed in 1999 in an unconnected incident. Roberts became one of the longest-serving prisoners in British history, serving 48 years before his controversial release in 2014.
Public sympathy for the families of the victims resulted in the establishment of the Police Dependants' Trust – now amalgamated into the charity Police Care UK to assist the welfare of families of British police officers who have died in the line of duty.
On 12 August 1966, a Metropolitan Police crew in an unmarked Triumph 2000 Q-car, registration plate GGW 87C and call sign Foxtrot One One, was patrolling East Acton (although the incident was always reported by the media as occurring in Shepherd's Bush) in West London. Detective Sergeant Christopher Tippett Head, aged 30, and Temporary Detective Constable David S Bertram Wombwell, aged 25, were both members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) based at Shepherd's Bush police station in F Division, which covered the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith. Their driver was Police Constable Geoffrey Roger Fox, aged 41, class 1 advanced driver and beat constable who had served for many years in F Division and frequently acted as a Q-car driver due to his vast local knowledge. All three officers were in plain clothes and had only just returned to normal duties after being involved in the investigation into the Hammersmith nude murders.
At about 3:15 pm, the Q-car turned into Braybrook Street, a residential road on the Old Oak council estate which on one side bordered Wormwood Scrubs and Wormwood Scrubs prison. The officers spotted a battered blue Standard Vanguard estate van, registration plate PGT 726, parked at the roadside with three men sitting inside it. Since escapes were sometimes attempted from the prison with the assistance of getaway vehicles driven by accomplices, the officers decided to question the occupants. It is possible that PC Fox also recognised the van's driver, John Witney, as a known local criminal. The vehicle also had no tax disc on display, which was then a legal requirement.
DS Head and DC Wombwell exited the car and walked over to the van, where they questioned Witney about the lack of a tax disc. He replied that he had not yet obtained his MOT test certificate, which was required before a tax disc could be issued. DS Head asked Witney for his driving licence and vehicle insurance certificate; noticing that the latter had expired at midday that day, he told DC Wombwell to write down Witney's details and walked around to the other side of the van. Witney protested that he had been caught for the same offence only two weeks before and pleaded to be given a break. However, as he did so his front seat passenger, Harry Roberts, produced a Luger pistol and shot DC Wombwell in the face at point blank range, killing him instantly. DS Head ran back towards his car but Roberts gave chase and, after missing with the next shot, shot him in the head. John Duddy, the back seat passenger, also got out, grabbing a .38 Webley Service Revolver from the bag next to him (which also contained a third gun). He ran over to the Q-car and shot PC Fox three times through the window as he tried to reverse at speed towards him and Roberts, who also fired several shots at the police car. As he died, Fox's foot jerked down on the accelerator pedal causing the car to lurch forward over the prone body of DS Head, who was already dying of his wounds.
Duddy and Roberts got back into the van and Witney reversed rapidly down a side street and pulled out onto Wulfstan Street before driving away at speed. However, a passer-by, suspicious of a car driving so fast near the prison, had written down the registration plate. Witney, the van's owner, was arrested at his home six hours after the incident. Following a tip-off, the van was discovered the next day in a lock-up garage rented by Witney under a railway bridge in Vauxhall. It contained some spent .38 cartridges and equipment that could be used for stealing cars. Initially Witney claimed that he had sold the van for £15 to an unknown man in a pub earlier in the day, but confessed on 14 August, admitting what had happened and naming his accomplices.