Notorious triple police killer Harry Roberts has died aged 89.
Roberts died in hospital last Saturday after a short illness. He served 48 years for the shooting murders of three unarmed officers in 1966, a crime that shocked Britain to its core.
He was released on licence from Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire, in November 2014, aged 78, and remained under the supervision of the probation service.
Following his controversial release from, Roberts lived in sheltered accommodation in Peterborough.
One associate of the former public enemy number one told the Sun: ‘He went into hospital recently and died suddenly last Saturday from natural causes.’
Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and Pc Geoffrey Fox, 41, were all killed in the attack on August 12 1966.
The officers were on patrol near Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London when they spotted a van on Braybrook Street, Shepherd’s Bush.
Inside the van was Roberts were his accomplices, John Duddy and John Witney, who were preparing to carry out an armed robbery.
When the unarmed officers approached, Roberts opened fire with a Luger pistol.
Roberts shot at the policemen in Braybrook Street while children were playing nearby.
He killed Det Con Wombell and chased and shot Sergeant Head. One of his accomplices then shot Geoffrey Fox.
Duddy and Witney were caught shortly after but Roberts remained on the run for nearly 100 days, sparking one of Scotland Yard’s biggest ever manhunt.
He relied on his training as a soldier to survive and was eventually found near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, living in a camouflaged den made out of plastic bags and branches.
At his trial, Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Glyn-Jones jailed Roberts for a minimum of 30 years for what he called the ‘most heinous crime for a generation or more’.
He added: ‘I think it likely that no Home Secretary, regarding the enormity of your crime, will ever think fit to show mercy by releasing you on licence.’
However, the triple killer was eventually released in 2014 and had been pictured enjoying a life of relative normality.
Since his release, he had been spotted celebrating passing his driving test last year and laughing and joking on the streets of Peterbrough.
In 2016, it was reported that he had been selling signed mugshots for £100 each.
At the time of his release, having spent 48 years behind bars, he was one of Britain’s longest-serving prisoners.
His two accomplices both died more than 25 years ago.
Duddy died in Parkhurst prison in 1981 and Witney was released in 1991 but was beaten to death with a hammer by his flatmate in Bristol in 1999.
In 2009, he was reportedly refused parole after threatening to kill a family he had worked for after they put a complaint in about him.
However, an independent Parole Board deemed he was eligible for release in 2014, prompting anger among the Police Federation, which said there was ‘widespread anger’ that the police killer had been freed.
The relatives of the police officer had campaigned to keep Roberts behind bars.
In an interview with Rod Mcphee for the Daily Mirror, Daen Wombwell, 53, the son of PC Wombwell, said the decision let down not only the victims of the Shepherds Bush massacre, but also every serving police officer.
He said: ‘It’s a betrayal of the fundamental trust of the police force – that we don’t ask them to do the job they do if the people who do the worst to the police are set free.’
