Harry Roberts, one of the UK"s most notorious killers, has died aged 89, 11 years after being controversially released from prison.
Roberts, a former British soldier, was given a life sentence in December 1966, after being found guilty of the west London murders of Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and Constable Geoffrey Fox, 41. Roberts and his accomplices John Duddy and John Witney had been planning an armed robbery when their van was stopped by police in Shepherds Bush on August 12, 1966: Roberts shot two of the policemen, DS Head and DC Wombwell, and DC Fox was killed by John Duddy.
The murders shocked Britain at a time when violence against the police was rare, and a £1000 reward was offered for information on Roberts whereabouts as he evaded a police manhunt for 96 days.
Capital punishment had been abolished in the UK the previous year by the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, and Roberts was given a life sentence for his crimes, ultimately serving 48 years in prison. While in prison he gave interviews stating that he got a taste for killing after shooting dead numerous individuals during his time serving in the British Army in Kenya and Malaya.
In the 1970s, at the height of violence between rival football hooligan 'firms' and police forces across Britain, a chant celebrating Roberts' crimes was taken up by supporters of Leeds United, and later adopted by fans of numerous other clubs. To the tune of popular children's nursery rhyme London Bridge, the chant featured the lyrics "Harry Roberts is our friend, he kills coppers."
