Shepherd's Bush Murders

Shepherd's Bush murders
The crime scene, including the Q-car and body of DS Christopher Head lying in the road
Location	Braybrook Street, London
Date	12 August 1966 (1966-08-12) around 3:15 pm
Target	DS Christopher Head DC David Wombwell PC Geoffrey Fox
Attack type	Massacre
Weapons	Luger pistol, Webley .38 Service Revolver
Deaths	3
Perpetrators	Harry Roberts John Duddy John Witney

The Shepherd's Bush murders, also known as the Massacre of Braybrook Street, involved the murder of three police officers in London by Harry Roberts and two others in 1966.

The officers had stopped to question the three occupants of a car waiting on Braybrook Street, near Wormwood Scrubs prison. Roberts shot dead Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell and Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, whilst John Duddy, another occupant in the vehicle, shot dead Police Constable Geoffrey Fox.

The three suspects went on the run, initiating a large manhunt. All three were eventually arrested and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. Duddy died in prison in 1981. John Witney, the driver of the suspects' vehicle, was also convicted of the murders; he was released from jail in 1991 but was killed in 1999 in an unconnected incident. Roberts became one of the longest-serving prisoners in the country, serving 48 years before his controversial release in 2014.

Public sympathy for the families of the victims resulted in the establishment of the Police Dependants' Trust to assist the welfare of families of British police officers who have died in the line of duty.

On Friday, 12 August 1966, a Metropolitan Police crew in an unmarked Triumph 2000 Q-car, registration plate GGW 87C and call sign "Foxtrot One One", was patrolling East Acton (although the incident was always reported by the media as occurring in Shepherd's Bush) in west London. Detective Sergeant Christopher Tippett Head, aged 30, and Temporary Detective Constable David S Bertram Wombwell, aged 25, were both members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) based at Shepherd's Bush police station in F Division. Their driver was Police Constable Geoffrey Roger Fox, aged 41, class 1 advanced driver, a beat constable who had served for many years in F Division (which covered the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith) and frequently acted as a Q-car driver due to his vast local knowledge. All three officers were in plain clothes.