didn’t make my introduction clear. Looking at the scene, he told me how the armed robber had threatened the bank staff as they ducked behind the counter. He said that the suspect had fired a long-barrelled pistol and the officer pointed at the screen to indicate where it had struck. I looked at the mark on the screen and then in front of it on the floor I saw a piece of plastic wadding (which he had not seen) hidden on the patterned carpet. Both indicated to me that the weapon was a shotgun type weapon and not a pistol. I told the young detective that the weapon was more likely a smallgauge shotgun and indicated the glass damage and wadding. ‘Oh that’s great,’ he said. ‘I’m glad we sorted that out before your SOCO got here. He’s on his way. I’ve heard that he’s shit hot and that would have been embarrassing.’ On the inside I felt my chest rise and I pulled myself to my full five feet seven inch stature. I quietly and proudly told him, ‘I am the Flying Squad SOCO.’
9. The Robber Who Bit Off More than he Could Chew
The crime scene is thought by many to be the most productive area for finding forensic evidence. That is not always the case. Often other locations associated with the crime are much more useful. Arriving at the getaway car, this was going to be one of these occasions.
The crime scene itself was unremarkable. Two armed men had threatened a security guard as he was transferring a wages bag between his security van and a small factory. There was no struggle and nothing had been dropped at the scene. There were no shoe marks on the ground to indicate anyone’s presence, criminal or otherwise.
The suspect had jumped into a small saloon car popular at the time and driven off at speed. The guards gave chase in the security vehicle and, having caught up, they were threatened with a gun for a second time. Naturally, the suspects escaped.
The car was found, engine running, doors open, a mile or so away, near some garages and an alleyway leading to an open area of waste ground and dwellings beyond.
I picked up the call on the police radio channel. Central 857 a Flying Squad car crewed by Dick Kirby and his driver Tony Freeman (‘Freeburg’ as Dick often referred to him) also answered and they beat me to the scene.
Dick and Tony were all that epitomised the professional Flying Squad. Dick was the tenacious maverick detective, Tony was the expert driver who would get Dick into and out of situations with calm professionalism.
Tony could make even the smallest car sing. With the right tool, and on the Squad he had the right tool, he was at his professional best. One of my earliest investigations on the Squad was when I was asked by Kevin Shapland (who I was later to realise was the most complete detective I would ever work with) to drive from the office in east London to Heathrow Airport to examine a car. Like most SOCOs at that time I had previously covered only a small geographical area. At first I thought it was a wind up. Heathrow was well outside the East End of London which my Flying Squad office covered. Kevin and Tony were going to meet me there. It took me well over an hour to get there through the traffic. I knew that Tony was still at the office some thirty minutes after I left as he had been called back to the office radio set as he was leaving to receive another message. This increased my fears of being the brunt of a practical joke.
To my amazement, as I arrived at Heathrow, Tony and Kevin arrived too. I confirmed that the drive, which had taken me well over an hour through the central London traffic, had taken Tony precisely thirty-five minutes. Much later, when travelling in the car with him, I realised that he quickly and safely got his crew to where it mattered without fuss and in a condition where they could quickly get on with their job.
Back at our robbery scene, a quick examination revealed that there was little for me to do at the robbery location itself so I jumped back
9. The Robber Who Bit Off More than he Could Chew
The crime scene is thought by many to be the most productive area for finding forensic evidence. That is not always the case. Often other locations associated with the crime are much more useful. Arriving at the getaway car, this was going to be one of these occasions.
The crime scene itself was unremarkable. Two armed men had threatened a security guard as he was transferring a wages bag between his security van and a small factory. There was no struggle and nothing had been dropped at the scene. There were no shoe marks on the ground to indicate anyone’s presence, criminal or otherwise.
The suspect had jumped into a small saloon car popular at the time and driven off at speed. The guards gave chase in the security vehicle and, having caught up, they were threatened with a gun for a second time. Naturally, the suspects escaped.
The car was found, engine running, doors open, a mile or so away, near some garages and an alleyway leading to an open area of waste ground and dwellings beyond.
I picked up the call on the police radio channel. Central 857 a Flying Squad car crewed by Dick Kirby and his driver Tony Freeman (‘Freeburg’ as Dick often referred to him) also answered and they beat me to the scene.
Dick and Tony were all that epitomised the professional Flying Squad. Dick was the tenacious maverick detective, Tony was the expert driver who would get Dick into and out of situations with calm professionalism.
Tony could make even the smallest car sing. With the right tool, and on the Squad he had the right tool, he was at his professional best. One of my earliest investigations on the Squad was when I was asked by Kevin Shapland (who I was later to realise was the most complete detective I would ever work with) to drive from the office in east London to Heathrow Airport to examine a car. Like most SOCOs at that time I had previously covered only a small geographical area. At first I thought it was a wind up. Heathrow was well outside the East End of London which my Flying Squad office covered. Kevin and Tony were going to meet me there. It took me well over an hour to get there through the traffic. I knew that Tony was still at the office some thirty minutes after I left as he had been called back to the office radio set as he was leaving to receive another message. This increased my fears of being the brunt of a practical joke.
To my amazement, as I arrived at Heathrow, Tony and Kevin arrived too. I confirmed that the drive, which had taken me well over an hour through the central London traffic, had taken Tony precisely thirty-five minutes. Much later, when travelling in the car with him, I realised that he quickly and safely got his crew to where it mattered without fuss and in a condition where they could quickly get on with their job.
Back at our robbery scene, a quick examination revealed that there was little for me to do at the robbery location itself so I jumped back
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