Richard Ford and David Brown
From The Times
February 28, 2009
Police killer Harry Roberts to be freed after 42 years in jail
Harry Roberts, now an old age pensioner, believes he has served his time, and now wants to make something of the last years of his life
Britain's most notorious police killer hopes to be freed from prison within months, having served 42 years in jail.
Harry Roberts, who was jailed for life for the murder of three policemen, has already completed the first stage of a Parole Board hearing, which he believes will pave the way for his release.
He hopes a final hearing will find that at the age of 72 he is no longer a risk to the public and will order his immediate release as he has already served 12 more years than the minimum sentence recommended by his trial judge.
A detailed plan to resettle Roberts in the community will have to be drawn up by the prison and Probation Service including providing him with housing and benefits. He would have to report at least once a week to a probation officer. Ministers will be concerned that any decision will provoke public fury and that his personal safety could be at risk, but will be powerless to halt his release.
Roberts was jailed for a minimum of 30 years at the Old Bailey in 1966 for murdering three unarmed officers in “cold blood” in Shepherds Bush, West London. The judge told Roberts that it was unlikely that any future home secretary would “ever think fit to show mercy by releasing you on licence”.
In November a two-week Parole Board hearing on the “facts” used to keep him in a secure prison is claimed to have dismissed many of the concerns. The next hearing will rule on Roberts's future risk to the public.
Supporters have claimed that successive home secretaries have blocked his release for political reasons because of fears of a public backlash.
Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that there would be widespread anger among serving and former officers.
“There is no death penalty and we fully accept that but there are some crimes where life should mean life and that includes the murder of a police or prison officer in the course of their duty,” he said. “There are some evil acts for which there is no forgiveness. Every police officer still considers these awful murders to be one of the most awful events in our history.”
Roberts has insisted that he is no longer a risk to the public and that he has been punished sufficiently for the crimes he committed as a 30-year-old man. “I'm not Harry Roberts, police killer. I'm Harry Roberts, old-age pensioner,” he said last year at Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire. “I want to get out of prison and make something of the last years of my life. I can understand why the families of the three policemen could never forgive me and wouldn't want me released. But I feel I've served my time.”
Last night the sister of one of his victims, Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, said she believed that Roberts would never be suitable for freedom.
Edna Palmer, 85, from Gillingham, Kent, said: “Harry Roberts should never be released. There will never be enough time to make up for the terrible thing that he did. He is a dangerous man and, despite the time, he should remain in jail.”
Legal sources said they believed that the Parole Board was likely to recommend that he was eligible for an open prison as a way of preparing him for his eventual release.
Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, still retains the power to reject a Parole Board recommendation that Roberts be moved to an open prison though he cannot block a decision by the board to order his release.
A Parole Board spokesman would not discuss individual cases but explained: “With all life sentence prisoners the statutory test that the board must apply when considering whether they are suitable for release is whether it is necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner be detained.”
Last year The Times revealed that bugging devices planted in a prison telephone were used illegally to record privileged conversation between Roberts and his solicitor.
Roberts had first been transferred to an open prison in 2001 in what was thought to be a prelude to his release. However, he was returned to closed conditions within months after allegations that he was involved in drug dealing and bringing contraband into prison.
The Home Office used anti-terrorist legislation to prevent Roberts or his lawyers from seeing the evidence presented to the Parole Board to keep him in a secure jail, arguing that the sources of the information would be placed at risk.
Roberts lost an appeal to the House of Lords seeking disclosure of the evidence in 2005 and the next year was turned down for parole. However, the supposedly damning confidential letters and statements containing the allegations were leaked and sent to Roberts at his cell in 2007. The case was referred back to the Parole Board.
The career criminal had opened fire on the three plainclothes police officers after they approached a van in which Roberts was sitting with two accomplices in August 1966.
At his trial in December 1966 Roberts admitted firing the shots that killed Detective Sergeant Head, 30, and Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25. He denied murdering PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, as the shot had been fired by an accomplice. John Duddy, who fired the shot that killed PC Fox, died in prison in 1981. The third member of the gang, John Witney, became the first convicted police killer to be freed from jail when he was released in 1991. He was beaten to death at his Bristol home eight years later.
Harry Roberts, who was jailed for life for the murder of three policemen, has already completed the first stage of a Parole Board hearing, which he believes will pave the way for his release.
He hopes a final hearing will find that at the age of 72 he is no longer a risk to the public and will order his immediate release as he has already served 12 more years than the minimum sentence recommended by his trial judge.
A detailed plan to resettle Roberts in the community will have to be drawn up by the prison and Probation Service including providing him with housing and benefits. He would have to report at least once a week to a probation officer. Ministers will be concerned that any decision will provoke public fury and that his personal safety could be at risk, but will be powerless to halt his release.
Times Archive, 1966: 'No Home Secretary likely to show mercy'
Harry Roberts, John Witney and John Duddy were each sentenced yesterday to life imprisonment
In November a two-week Parole Board hearing on the “facts” used to keep him in a secure prison is claimed to have dismissed many of the concerns. The next hearing will rule on Roberts's future risk to the public.
Supporters have claimed that successive home secretaries have blocked his release for political reasons because of fears of a public backlash.
Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that there would be widespread anger among serving and former officers.
“There is no death penalty and we fully accept that but there are some crimes where life should mean life and that includes the murder of a police or prison officer in the course of their duty,” he said. “There are some evil acts for which there is no forgiveness. Every police officer still considers these awful murders to be one of the most awful events in our history.”
Roberts has insisted that he is no longer a risk to the public and that he has been punished sufficiently for the crimes he committed as a 30-year-old man. “I'm not Harry Roberts, police killer. I'm Harry Roberts, old-age pensioner,” he said last year at Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire. “I want to get out of prison and make something of the last years of my life. I can understand why the families of the three policemen could never forgive me and wouldn't want me released. But I feel I've served my time.”
Last night the sister of one of his victims, Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, said she believed that Roberts would never be suitable for freedom.
Edna Palmer, 85, from Gillingham, Kent, said: “Harry Roberts should never be released. There will never be enough time to make up for the terrible thing that he did. He is a dangerous man and, despite the time, he should remain in jail.”
Legal sources said they believed that the Parole Board was likely to recommend that he was eligible for an open prison as a way of preparing him for his eventual release.
Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, still retains the power to reject a Parole Board recommendation that Roberts be moved to an open prison though he cannot block a decision by the board to order his release.
A Parole Board spokesman would not discuss individual cases but explained: “With all life sentence prisoners the statutory test that the board must apply when considering whether they are suitable for release is whether it is necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner be detained.”
Last year The Times revealed that bugging devices planted in a prison telephone were used illegally to record privileged conversation between Roberts and his solicitor.
Roberts had first been transferred to an open prison in 2001 in what was thought to be a prelude to his release. However, he was returned to closed conditions within months after allegations that he was involved in drug dealing and bringing contraband into prison.
The Home Office used anti-terrorist legislation to prevent Roberts or his lawyers from seeing the evidence presented to the Parole Board to keep him in a secure jail, arguing that the sources of the information would be placed at risk.
Roberts lost an appeal to the House of Lords seeking disclosure of the evidence in 2005 and the next year was turned down for parole. However, the supposedly damning confidential letters and statements containing the allegations were leaked and sent to Roberts at his cell in 2007. The case was referred back to the Parole Board.
The career criminal had opened fire on the three plainclothes police officers after they approached a van in which Roberts was sitting with two accomplices in August 1966.
At his trial in December 1966 Roberts admitted firing the shots that killed Detective Sergeant Head, 30, and Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25. He denied murdering PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, as the shot had been fired by an accomplice. John Duddy, who fired the shot that killed PC Fox, died in prison in 1981. The third member of the gang, John Witney, became the first convicted police killer to be freed from jail when he was released in 1991. He was beaten to death at his Bristol home eight years later.
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