An edited version of this article was first published on 12 December 2008 by Police Review
Not Forgotten
On the weekend of 12-14 December 1958 three police officers died from acts of violence
Anthony Rae, Chairman of the Police Roll of Honour Trust, remembers them.
Policing Britain in the 1950s, the comforting figure of the lone constable patrolling the streets, where a clip around the ear was all that was required to curb hooliganism, an idyllic time for the police, or was it? The reality was somewhat different: this weekend, exactly 50 years ago, would leave in its wake three dead police officers, victims of criminal acts of violence in three unrelated incidents of mayhem and murder.
Police Constable, Hertfordshire Constabulary
The first to die that weekend was PC Frank Hulme, 31, of the Hertfordshire Constabulary; an experienced officer, who joined the Constabulary in March 1952 after service in the Royal Navy. He was stationed at Hemel Hempstead, where he lived with his wife, Barbara, and their three children: Patricia, 8, Peter, 7, and James just 2 years old.
Frank died at 8.00 pm on Friday, 12 December 1958, but his death had not come quickly. It began two weeks earlier at 10.45 pm on the night of Saturday 29 November, while patrolling the High Street with a colleague, when they intervened in a gang fight outside a pub. Frank was involved in two separate violent arrests, during each of which he was assaulted by several men, punched, kicked and fell to the ground; despite this on both occasions he held onto his prisoner until they were secured in a police van. Shortly afterwards he collapsed in the street and was rushed to hospital unconscious.
He was found to have suffered a cerebral haemorrhage resulting from an aneurysm; this could have ruptured at any time, especially through exertion or if subjected to violence, or he could have lived a long life never knowing he had it. He was operated on and drifted in and out of consciousness whilst his wife visited him every day until his death two weeks later. In a cruel twist of fate, on the night before Frank’s funeral Barbara’s father died, her grief can hardly be imagined.
Manslaughter verdict
A post mortem found that Frank had not in fact died from the ruptured aneurysm but from a pulmonary embolism as a result of a blood clot from a bruise caused by a blow to his thigh received during the street affray. Either way it was clear his death resulted from the violence used, and had there been an intention to cause him grievous bodily harm it would have been murder. In the event, on 30 December an inquest jury returned a verdict of manslaughter.
On 29 January 1959 the case reached the Old Bailey with the two men Frank arrested committed for manslaughter, causing grievous bodily harm and, together with two others, causing an affray. But a deal was struck and in exchange for guilty pleas to affray by Frank’s two prisoners, no evidence was offered to the manslaughter charges of which they were formally acquitted. One man, 22, with previous convictions for causing grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, and two assaults on police was sentenced to four months imprisonment for the affray, whilst the other a 34 year old married man with 5 children was given a 12 month conditional discharge.
That Constable Hulme died from violence received courageously making the two arrests is beyond doubt; what we will never know for sure is why the case was not allowed to go to the jury but it is likely that, with several men involved in the two arrests, some of whom were never traced, the prosecution felt there was little chance of proving beyond doubt who or what caused the fatal blow. What is also beyond doubt is that for Frank’s family justice was not seen to be done.
Widow’s campaign for justice
While Barbara, broken hearted and devastated by the outcome, struggled on to bring her family back to some sort of normality, Frank's death was forgotten by the police service. Just ten years later, his name was absent from lists of officers killed by criminal acts published by the Police Federation. It was another 15 years before his name first appeared in a Police Review article by police historian Richard Cowley, followed in 1985 by the publication, also in Police Review, of a new Roll of Honour by Anthony Rae, to set the record straight.
Forty years after Frank’s death, her family grown, and happily re-married to Lionel, Barbara found the strength to seek, if not justice, recognition for Frank’s death in the execution of his duty. Initial enquiries revealed the force knew little of Frank’s death, his records were lost! Undeterred, in 2001 Barbara met with Chief Constable, Paul Acres, who promised to help; within weeks Frank’s missing file was found and for the first time Barbara discovered, as far as one could, how Frank died and why no-one was tried for his killing.
Assisted by Lionel, Barbara wrote Frank’s story in a booklet published by the Hertfordshire Police History Society in 2002. In 2004 a new Memorial Roll of Honour and Book of Remembrance was unveiled at Hertfordshire Police Headquarters to all those killed on duty, followed in 2007 by a Police Memorial Garden; among the 18 names listed as killed on duty throughout the force’s history was “Frank Hulme 1958”. He would not be forgotten again.
Detective Inspector, County Borough of Blackburn Police
Even as Frank Hulme drew his last breath, at 8.00 pm on the 12th December a second tragedy was unfolding 200 miles north in a hotel in Blackburn, Lancashire, where a man was giving a woman with whom he was drinking an early “Christmas present”. The man, who was drunk, then told her he was going to shoot his wife and baby that night; the “present” was a shotgun cartridge…
James O’Donnell, 47, joined Blackburn Borough Police in 1932 after four years service in the Irish Guards, which he rejoined at the start of the war and soon proved himself a hero. He was wounded and captured in 1940 in an action for which he was later awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. While imprisonment took him away from the battlefields, it did not diminish his spirit or his courage and his persistence in attempting to escape from POW camps resulting in him being decorated with a bar to the Military Medal. After the war he married Florence and rejoined the force rising to the rank of Detective Inspector and Head of CID.
Henry King, 27, had also seen military service and was married but there the similarity ended; King had spent two years in Borstal before joining the RAF from where he had been discharged because of psychiatric problems; his wife had left him with their 6 month old baby because of repeated violent outbursts and was staying with her parents.
Automatic Shotgun
Earlier that day King had bought an automatic shotgun, which held 5 rounds, and 25 cartridges; after leaving the hotel about 10.00 pm he went to his in-laws’ house armed with the weapon and forced his way in holding his wife, her family and friends, a total of seven people, at gunpoint, discharging the shotgun into the ceiling and making threats. During the confusion over the next 90 minutes one of the occupants escaped from the house and the police were alerted.
Fifty years ago there was no ready availability of police firearms, and three unarmed officers attended the scene: Constables John Covill and Jack Riley, in plain clothes, and Constable Peter Halliwell. They entered the house through the open front door, went through the front room, which was in darkness, and opened the door to the kitchen at the rear where they found the remaining captives gathered with King standing by the back door holding the shotgun.
King said: “who fetched the bloody police” and pointed the gun, threatening the officers; John Covill walked towards him saying: "Come on; give me the gun here,” holding out his hand. An explosion shook the room as King fired, hitting the officer in the right groin and fracturing his pelvis; as PC Covill was dragged away by PC Riley, King turned the gun on his wife and shot her in the back and she fell dead. In the mayhem the remaining captives fled the room and PC Halliwell closed the door on King and held it fast talking to King to through the door to calm him.
Death of a Hero
King was still in the kitchen threatening to shoot the first one to come through the door when other officers, all unarmed, arrived, including D.I. O’Donnell who took charge. Despite knowing the gunman had already shot his wife and a fellow officer, he identified himself to King, whom he knew, and asked to enter the room to talk, which King agreed to. James O’Donnell entered the room followed by Inspector John Harrison, it was now in darkness but they could both see King, shotgun in hand, and lying on the floor between them, the body of his wife.
D.I. O’Donnell attempted to calm King and agreed to write down his statement, taking out his notebook and pencil; he turned towards King who, without warning, fired at point blank range, the shot hit D.I. O’Donnell in the lower chest and he fell. King pointed the gun at Inspector Harrison who jumped back into the front room, O’Donnell dragging himself out; he was rushed to hospital badly wounded but clinging on to life.
Tear gas and guns
With King remaining besieged in the house, two police dogs arrived and, at last, firearms for the police: four small arms brought by Blackburn’s Chief Constable, Richard Bibby, three rifles with the local army commander and two tear gas bombs from the military barracks at Preston. At 2.15 am the tear gas was thrown into the kitchen and soon afterwards a shot was heard, a police dog and officers entered and found King had shot himself but was not seriously wounded.
Jim O’Donnell, a true hero, died at 11.45 pm on Saturday 13 December 1958. His killer was charged with the murder of his wife and the Inspector and attempted murder of John Covill, if convicted he would hang. At Manchester Crown Court on 13 March 1959 he was found guilty only of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and sentenced to life imprisonment; he was released in November 1976.
In August 1959 the Queen’s Police Medal for Gallantry was awarded posthumously to Detective Inspector James O’Donnell along with the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct to Constables Covill, Halliwell and Riley and Inspector Harrison.
Police Constable, Metropolitan Police
Within 24 hours of Jim O’Donnell’s death, the night of Sunday 14 December saw what appeared to be a replay of the death of Frank Hulme. At exactly the same time of 10.45 pm Constable Ray Summers, intervened in a violent street affray in Holloway North London before collapsing in the road with no signs of injury. He was taken to hospital by a passing car but was dead on arrival, apparently from a heart attack, at 23 years of age!
Ray was a single man but engaged to be married the following year; although still a probationer constable, he had three years service with the RAF and at 6’ 4” tall was well able to take care of himself, even when patrolling alone without a radio. The sight he met on Seven Sisters Road would have daunted anyone: a gang fight outside a dance hall involving a variety of offensive weapons, including knives, axes and bottles. But Ray went straight into the affray, breaking it up, and was attempting to arrest one of the ringleaders when he was struck a single blow in the back and fell.
Stabbed to death
Although his death appeared to be natural, the incident was still seen as very serious and police had already begun to round up suspects from the fight when the post mortem took place 12 hours later. With our modern view of forensics and the investigation of sudden death, it now seems incredible but Ray’s body had been left in the mortuary fully clothed and still wearing his helmet! It was only when his body was turned over and checked that it was discovered a knife had penetrated his 5 layers of clothing and over four inches into his body; he had been stabbed to death.
It was not long before a number of suspects were arrested and the murder weapon, a dagger, was recovered along with other forensic evidence. One man questioned on the night, and released, Ronald Marwood, 25, 6’ 2” and well built became the prime suspect but he had left his wife at home and disappeared the day after the murder. Whilst the police searched for Marwood, eight other young men were convicted of affray and sent to prison; six weeks later, his name and picture having been circulated by the police, he gave himself up and confessed.
A hanging and another death
On 19 March 1959, Marwood was convicted of the capital murder of PC Summers and, despite a public outcry, on 8 May he was hanged. Still the tragedy was not yet over, within a year of his death, Ray’s Fiancée, Sheila McKenzie, collapsed and died, aged just 21, she was buried with Ray.
Not forgotten
In April 2005 the names of Frank Hulme, James O’Donnell and Raymond Summers, joined those of 1,600 other UK officers killed in the execution of their hazardous duty on the Roll of Honour, published by the Police Roll of Honour Trust and unveiled by HM The Queen at the new National Police Memorial on The Mall in London. Their names are listed side by side, they did not know each other in life but they are together in death, honoured always. They are not forgotten.