A policing union has said infamous police killer Harry Roberts ‘should never’ have been allowed to die a free man after the career criminal’s death aged 89.
Roberts was jailed for life for shooting dead three unarmed policemen in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in 1966, before being released in 2014.
He died in hospital last Saturday after a short illness.
Matt Cane, general secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: ‘The three officers murdered by Roberts never got a chance to grow old.
‘The life sentence for their loved ones still continues.
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‘Life should mean life if you murder a police officer in the course of their duties – Roberts should never have been freed.’
What did Harry Roberts do?
Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and Pc Geoffrey Fox, 41, were shot when they approached a van containing Roberts and two others, after an armed robbery.
As Det Con Wombwell was writing in his notebook, Roberts – the front seat passenger – took out a Luger pistol and shot him.
Sgt Head ran back towards the police car but he too was shot by Roberts.
PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, was killed by fellow gang member John Duddy.
The murders shocked the nation, revelling in England’s World Cup win just days earlier. Thousands turned up to the funerals of the three officers.
Wanted posters bearing Roberts’ image – and promising for 1966 standards a huge £1,000 reward – were put up.
His mother Dorothy made an emotional televised plea for him to turn himself in, saying directly to her son: ‘I ask you from the bottom of my heart to come into the open and give yourself up. If you make an appointment with me, I will come with you.
‘The whole thing is killing me. Please do as I ask you before there’s any more bloodshed.’
A nationwide manhunt was launched for Roberts.
Police received more than 6,000 sightings, including stealing sandwiches from a family picnic in the Lake District, he was alleged to have posed as a woman to get his hair dyed and reportedly worked in a Soho strip club.
In truth, Roberts managed to evade police for three months by camping out in Epping Forest, Essex, using the survival training he had learned in the Army.
When he was eventually caught after spending a night hiding in haystacks, Roberts ‘seemed grateful’ to the police.
Reporter Peter Woodman, whose parents were friends with the officer, said: ‘He [Roberts] was surprised that he was merely arrested as he thought the police would kill him on the spot.’
Whilst behind bars, Roberts told journalist Nick Davies he felt sorry for the impact the murders had on the families, but said: ‘They keep asking me “Do you feel remorse, Harry?”
‘And I say no. We didn’t want to murder anyone.
‘That was the last thing we wanted. We shot them because we thought they were going to nick us and we didn’t want to go to jail for 15 years.
‘We were professional criminals. We don’t react the same way as ordinary people.’
Relatives of his victims and senior police officials called for Roberts to stay behind bars, but he walked free from Littlehey prison in Cambridgeshire in 2014, having served 45 years in jail.
There was a clash on opinions over Roberts’s release, with then home secretary Theresa May commenting that he should remain behind bars.
As London Mayor Boris Johnson called the decision to release him ‘sickening’ whereas Nick Clegg said his release was not about ‘feelings’ but ‘how the justice system works’.
