Brian Bishop
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PC Brian John 'Bill' Bishop (born July 24, 1947–died August 27, 1984) was fatally shot by an armed robber at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex on August 22, 1984, four months after WPC Yvonne Fletcher was murdered.
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[edit] Police service
In 1962, Brian Bishop joined Essex Police as a fifteen-year-old cadet. Bishop was 6' 7" tall when he became PC 389 on August 11, 1966, and was posted to Colchester. He joined the Dog Section as a handler in 1968 and moved to the Force Support Unit in 1975. Later, he became a firearms instructor. He had been assigned to the rank of Acting Police Sergeant before he died.
[edit] Epitaph
The epitaph next to his memorial stone reads as follows:
- "Brian Bishop, a member of the Essex Police tactical firearms group, was called here to await the return of an armed robber to collect stolen money which he had hidden following post office raids in Walton and Frinton. Brian challenged the suspect who immediately opened fire causing extensive head injuries from which Brian subsequently died. A man was convicted of his murder."
Five days after the shooting took place, Brian Bishop died at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London on August 27, 1984. His colleague, Police Sergeant Mervyn Fairweather, who was seriously wounded in the same incident, later recovered. A 35-year-old man was found guilty of Brian Bishop's murder at Norwich Crown Court in July 1985, and was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years' imprisonment.
[edit] Memorial
On February 19, 1986 the then Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, unveiled a brown granite memorial stone adjacent to the seafront site where Brian Bishop was shot. Brian Bishop's memorial was only the third to be funded and erected by the Police Memorial Trust, and was the first to be sited outside the capital.
