Triple cop killer Harry Roberts dies aged 89, 11 years after being freed from life sentence
A former associate told The Sun: “He went into hospital recently and died suddenly last Saturday from natural causes.”
Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, were all killed in the attack on 12 August, 1966.
Roberts and two accomplices, John Duddy and John Witney, were in a Standard Vanguard looking for a car to steal to use in a robbery.
The officers were in an unmarked Triumph marked car with the call sign Foxtrot One One when they spotted the trio in their van.
Roberts opened fire with a Luger pistol as the officers approached, killing Det Con Wombell before he chased and shot Sergeant Head. One of his accomplices then shot Geoffrey Fox.
Despite the other two suspects being found shortly afterwards, Roberts remained on the run for 100 days before he was found hiding out in a disused airfield near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire.
At his trial the Old Bailey, Roberts was jailed for a minimum of 30 years. His two accomplices both died more than 25 years ago.
Despite being continually denied parole amid suspicion he was still involved in crime and associating with other notorious criminals, Roberts was eventually released in November 2014, having spent 48 years behind bars.
