Kirby - SCOTLAND YARDS GANGBUSTER: bert wicksteads most celebrated cases

S COTLAND Y ARD S G ANGBUSTER

has also written

Rough Justice

Memoirs of a Flying Squad Officer

The Real Sweeney

Youre Nicked!

Villains

The Guvnors

Ten of Scotland Yards Greatest Detectives

The Sweeney

The First Sixty Years of Scotland Yards Crimebusting

Flying Squad 19191978

Scotland Yards Ghost Squad

The Secret Weapon against Post-War Crime

The Brave Blue Line

100 Years of Metropolitan Police Gallantry

Death on the Beat

Police Officers killed in the Line of Duty

The Scourge of Soho

The Controversial Career of SAS Hero

Detective Sergeant Harry Challenor MM

Whitechapels Sherlock Holmes

The Casebook of Fred Wensley OBE, KPM

Victorian Crimebuster

The Wrong Man

The Shooting of Steven Waldorf and

the Hunt for David Martin

Laid Bare

The Nude Murders and

the Hunt for Jack the Stripper

Londons Gangs at War

Operation Countryman

The Flawed Enquiry into London Police Corruption

The continuing increase in violent crime will make many readers yearn for yesteryear and officers of Dick Kirbys calibre.

Police Magazine

His reflections on the political aspect of law enforcement will ring true for cops, everywhere.

American Police Beat

Thoroughly researched and enjoyable history, crammed with vivid descriptions of long-forgotten police operations races along like an Invicta at full throttle.

Daily Express

Dick Kirby knows how to bring his coppers to life on each page.

Joseph Wambaugh, Author of the Choirboys

Kirby writes with authority and clarity highly recommended.

Real Crime Magazine

An experienced, natural raconteur.

History By the Yard

A dedicated police historian.

Police Oracle

Rarely, if ever, have I been so captivated by a book the way in which Mr Kirby has gone about it is exceptional.

Police Memorabilia Collectors Club

This book is dedicated to
Bert Wicksteads grandchildren: Jen, Alan, Edward,
Evie-Jean and Daisy plus the men and women the
Gangbusters who staffed Scotland Yards Serious Crime Squad.

And to Ann: Can wisdom be put in a silver rod
Or love in a golden bowl?

William Blake

The Book of Thel

BERT WICKSTEADS MOST CELEBRATED CASES

DICK KIRBY

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

Pen & Sword True Crime

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Dick Kirby 2018

HBK ISBN 978 1 52673 153 1

PBK ISBN 978 1 52675 173 7

eISBN 978 1 52673 154 8

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52673 155 5

The right of Dick Kirby to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.

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PEN AND SWORD BOOKS

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D ick Kirby was born in 1943 in the East End of London and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967. Half of his 26 years service as a detective was spent with the Yards Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad.

Married, with four children and five grandchildren, Kirby lives in a Suffolk village with his wife. He reviews books, films and music, is a consultant for a television series and writes memoirs, biographies and true crime books this is his sixteenth.

Kirby can be visited on his website: www.dickkirby.com .

F irst I have to thank that splendid former Flying Squad officer and Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Mike Taylor, QPM for his very kind foreword to the book. Next, Brigadier Henry Wilson of Pen & Sword Books for his unstinting support and backing worthy of Bert Wickstead himself. Additionally, thanks go to Matt Jones, also of Pen & Sword, plus George Chamier for his lynx-eyed editing; what I miss, he finds.

I owe a debt of thanks to the following people and organizations for their invaluable behind the scenes assistance, without which I should have faltered, not once but on many occasions: David Allen of the Bow Street website; Mick Carter from the ReCIDivists Luncheon Club; Alan Moss of History by the Yard ; Bob Fenton QGM, Honorary Secretary of the Ex-CID Officers Association; Louise Richards and Tobias Phillips from Equiniti Pension Solutions Operations; Susi Rogol, editor of the London Police Pensioner , Kathy Schuller of the Metropolitan Women Police Association; Martin Stallion of the Police History Society; Daniel Sugarman of the Jewish Chronicle ; Barry Walsh of the Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection; Paris Sydes, Heritage Assistant at the Redbridge Museum and Heritage Centre; Terri Stone from the Parndon Wood Crematorium, Harlow; Stuart K. Fairclough PGCE, MIfL, QJM, NPM, AMIMI, IAATI and members of the DT3 Association, namely Sue McClaren, Steve Parsall, Rod Brafield, Bob Chalmers, Alan Wright, Bob Hendry, John Wilding, Derek Marrable, John Wilkin, Henry Philpot, David Lamb, Tony Osborn, Colin Elliott, Stephen Ditchburn and Derek Smith.

There are always some people who, for reasons best known to themselves, refuse to assist an author in the compilation of a non-fiction book, and it happened whilst researching this particular tome. A pity, because I sought them out since I believed their input would be invaluable, and so it might have been. Nevertheless, I have endeavoured to ensure that the content of the book is as accurate as possible and I acknowledge that any faults or imperfections are mine alone.

But those shy people were in the minority; the following, to whom I am most grateful, gave unstintingly of their time and answered my questions (some of which Im sure were, on occasion, impertinent) fully, freely and promptly:

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu QPM; Peter Binstead, Alan Brooks, the late Terry Brown GM, Tony Bruce, David Buchanan, Mick Carter, Gordon Cawthorne MBE, Stan Clegg, Pat Collins, Peter Condon, Peter Connor, Jack Cooper, Ian Corner, Ruth Corner, Fred Cutts LL.B, Roger Davey, Ken Dellbridge, Neil Dickens QPM, Stuart Douglas, John Farley QPM, Dr Gerry Gable DUniv, MA(Crim), Liam Gillespie, Mick Gray, John Griffiths, Michael Hall, Graham Hickson, Bill Kelleher, John Lewis, Alf Marriott, Sue Maudsley, Dave McEnhill, Dick Miles, Geoff Parratt, Colin Pridige, David Pritchard, Frank Pulley BEM, Bob Robinson, Allan Rowlands, Gerry Runham, Dave Scrivener, Betty Shimell, John Simmonds, Tony Stevens, Roger Stoodley, Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore QC, Bernie Tighe, Geoff Turner, the late Bill Waite BEM; Jenny Wickett; Andrew Wickstead, Ed Williams, the late Ray Wood, OBE; John Woodhouse and John Woodward.