Tributes have been paid to a West Yorkshire Police officer shot and killed when he rushed to help a colleague who was being attacked in Leeds.
Today, West Yorkshire Police remember former Detective Sergeant John Speed who was murdered on Wednesday October 31, 1984. John was unarmed and shot when he ran to the aid of a colleague who had been attacked during a routine stop check.
Two men were acting suspicious in Kirkgate near Leeds Parish Church. As John approached the scene one of the men pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest at point blank range.
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The Halloween tragedy left the community shaken up. John, who died when he was 39, was later posthumously awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: ""Today we remember Detective Sergeant John Speed of the West Yorkshire Police who was murdered in 1984.
"The unarmed officer was shot in Leeds as he went to the aid of a colleague who had been attacked during a routine stop check of two men who he had seen acting suspiciously in Kirkgate near Leeds Parish Church. This happened over 30 years ago in very tragic circumstances, in which an unarmed officer was shot dead."
They added: "But sadly such incidents continue to this day and it’s important that we remember them all. Even though some time has passed, it remains strong in the memory of many serving officers and we will continue to remember the likes of John Speed."
West Yorkshire Police believe the robbery was linked to two other robberies in the area, one in Asda in 1981, and another in Kirkgaete in 1981. In a BBC interview aired in the 1980s, a detective said the incidents were linked because the gun and the bullets used were compatible.
PC John Thorpe, 33, who was first at the scene, had spoken only a few words when one of the men pulled out a handgun and opened fire. David Gricewith, a garage owner, was only identified as the gunman after his own death two years later.
Gricewith might still have been alive and free today if he had been able to resist the urge to carry out an armed robbery. When a police chase followed a raid on a supermarket at Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, more than two years after Sgt Speed's murder, Gricewith's sawn-off shotgun went off accidentally, shooting him in the stomach, when police rammed his van.
Soon after he died. Information obtained from a girlfriend after his death helped to confirm growing police suspicions that Gricewith was the killer. John, who left behind his children and wife, was buried just 50 yards from where he was shot.
A memorial was unveiled in Kirkgate on June 6, 1968, to honour John's service, bravery and sacrifice at the scene on that tragic day.
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