Harry Roberts (murderer)

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Harry Maurice Roberts (born 1936) is one of the UK's most notorious murderers and longest-serving prison inmates.^[1] He was the instigator of the Massacre of Braybrook Street, a triple-murder of policemen in 1966.

Roberts was with two other petty criminals in Braybrook Street, East Acton, London, when his car was pulled over by PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, Sgt Christopher Head, 30, and Det Con David Wombwell, 25 in an unmarked "Q" car. When he feared that some handguns were about to be uncovered, Roberts drew one of the guns and shot one of the policemen dead. He then shot a second policeman while one of his accomplices shot dead the third.

Roberts hid out in Epping Forest to avoid the huge manhunt. He used his military training (he had served as a soldier during the Malayan Emergency) to avoid police capture for three months. He was finally captured whilst sleeping in a barn at Blount's Farm near Bishop's Stortford after hiding in the adjacent Matham's Wood. Roberts was familiar with the area as he had been sent there as a child evacuee earlier in his life. At this time, there were lots of false sightings of Roberts, but the local people who saw him decided that he couldn't possibly be Roberts, and consequently he evaded capture for several months.

Convicted of three murders, Roberts was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum of 30 years. He made many escape attempts but remains imprisoned a decade after the expiry of his minimum term. In September 2006, 70-year-old Roberts applied for a judicial review over apparent delays by the parole board in reaching a decision to free him by the end of the year. In December 2006, he was turned down for parole [1].

His murder of the two policemen made him a hero in some anarchist circles, and football crowds since the 1970s often chanted his name to antagonise the police. Chants like "Harry Roberts is our friend, is our friend, is our friend. Harry Roberts is our friend, he kills coppers" (to the tune of London Bridge is falling down).

His folk-hero status amongst these sub-cultures has led to various artistic representations of Roberts. The character of Billy Porter in He Kills Coppers by Jake Arnott is based on Harry Roberts, and he features in the lyrics of several songs by the band Chumbawamba.