Harry Roberts, one of the UK"s most notorious killers, has died aged 89, 11 years after being controversially released from prison.
Roberts, a former British soldier, was given a life sentence in December 1966, after being found guilty of the west London murders of Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and Constable Geoffrey Fox, 41. Roberts and his accomplices John Duddy and John Witney had been planning an armed robbery when their van was stopped by police in Shepherds Bush on August 12, 1966: Roberts shot two of the policemen, DS Head and DC Wombwell, and DC Fox was killed by John Duddy.
The murders shocked Britain at a time when violence against the police was rare, and a £1000 reward was offered for information on Roberts whereabouts as he evaded a police manhunt for 96 days.
Capital punishment had been abolished in the UK the previous year by the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, and Roberts was given a life sentence for his crimes, ultimately serving 48 years in prison. While in prison he gave interviews stating that he got a taste for killing after shooting dead numerous individuals during his time serving in the British Army in Kenya and Malaya.
In the 1970s, at the height of violence between rival football hooligan 'firms' and police forces across Britain, a chant celebrating Roberts' crimes was taken up by supporters of Leeds United, and later adopted by fans of numerous other clubs. To the tune of popular children's nursery rhyme London Bridge, the chant featured the lyrics "Harry Roberts is our friend, he kills coppers."
The chant also found favour at protests against police brutality, and among fans of anti-authoritarian anarcho-punk bands.
In 1993, the Leeds-based anarchist punk band Chumbawamba recorded a song in tribute to Roberts titled Hat Trick For Harry. The previous year, on their fifth studio album Shhh, the band namechecked Roberts on the song Happiness Is Just A Chant Away, singing his name in a parody of a Hare Krishna mantra at the conclusion of a song which also referenced Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. Hat Trick For Harry, which referenced unlawful killings by police forces in the UK and suspicious deaths in police custody attributed to suicide, offered a much more unambiguous celebration of Roberts' actions.
It features lyrics such as "Hats off to Harry, 1,2,3, give the copper one for me" and "Crime prevention doesn't pay, the underdog just had its day" and a chorus which references late football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous line from England's summer 1966 World Cup final triumph against Germany, with the lyrics "Hat trick for Harry, they think it's all over... it is now! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Ultimately, Chumbawamba opted not to release the song as a single, and it remained unreleased, though can now be heard on YouTube, uploaded from a cassette recording.
The following year, in the sleevenotes for their first UK Top 40 album Anarchy, the band mentioned Roberts in reference to the 28-second skit Blackpool Rock, writing "it’s 1966 and reg at his organ celebrates local lad harry roberts’ gunning down of three policemen. geoff hurst scores a hat-trick and the clown king laughs forever and ever… “they think it’s all over! it is now” (kenneth wolstenholme)"
Chumbawamba would continue to reference state violence, class conflict, anti-fascism and societal issues in their music until their 2012 break-up. In 1997, the band achieved their biggest ever hit with the single Tubthumping, the first release from their eighth studio album, Tubthumper, which peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 6 in the US. Tubthumper went on to sell over three million copies in the US, and its lead single was played at major sporting events in America for years to come.
Despite their surprise ascent into the mainstream, Chumbawamba never toned down their political beliefs: during a performance of Tubthumping on The Late Show With David Letterman, they broke into a chant of "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal", in support of American political activist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police offer.
Following the announcement of Harry Roberts death, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Federation issued a statement saying that the East London-born killer should never have been released from prison.
Matt Cane, General Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said, “The three officers murdered by Roberts never got a chance to grow old. The life sentence for their loved ones still continues. Life should mean life if you murder a police officer in the course of their duties - Roberts should never have been freed."
During his time in prison, Roberts was known for baking apple pies decorated with pastry cut-outs of police officers being shot.
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