Poor old Gerald Smith – now that should have been a prosecution and conviction for murder, but at that time murder was contrary to common law and was defined thus:
Murder is when a man of sound memory and of the age of discretion, unlawfully kills any reasonable creature in being, under the King's peace, with malice aforethought, either expressed or implied, so as the party die within a year and a day.
Unfortunately (depending on how it is viewed) with the assistance of modern medical attention, Gerald Smith soldiered on for nearly 14 months, so although he also, undoubtedly died because of the murderous actions of Donald Neilson, he was never tried for the offence – it was ordered to lie on the file.
In respect of the Langley post office job / Sidney Grayland murder, Neilson had already started to modify his MO. It was evening time, rather than the early hours of the morning. Although in my story, I have him in his trademark black, there is evidence that points to him being dressed as he was at the time of the shooting of Gerald Smith and when he was arrested – knee length raincoat and maybe, flat cap. Perhaps dressed all in black, on public transport in the afternoon / early evening might have aroused some suspicion, who knows?
Bob Booth was moved to Malvern, but not as a result of any immediate action by Commander Morrison. He did organize a press conference in direct contravention of his orders, but as soon as the hierarchy got wind of it, it was cancelled. He was not moved until after an extraordinary, lengthy outburst in the witness box at the trial. Using the immunity / cover of the courtroom proceedings, he heavily criticized fellow officers and sought to justify actions of his own, that frankly, on occasions bordered on the ludicrous, if not actual neglect of duty – for example lying to the press and insisting that the telephone kiosks containing the Dymo tape ransom messages should not to be forensically examined, with the result that time and valuable evidence stood to be lost. They were not searched for eleven days. Eventually the tape was discovered by a member of the public, seventeen year old Keiron Brewster.
As a matter of interest, the Lesley Whittle debacle, as well as the Muriel MacKay fiasco – and others – led to a procedure known today as ‘Tiger Kidnap’. The term originates from an IRA tactic of kidnapping a loved one, then forcing the spouse, parent or whomever, of that person to set off a bomb, or perform some other atrocity in the knowledge that if they do not, the loved one will suffer torture and / or a long, painful death. Other criminals pursue a similar course of action, but will kidnap (say) the wife and child of the manager of a large supermarket. He will then be forced to open the ATM / cash dispensers at his place of work and allow the robbers to steal the many thousands of pounds therefrom, or his family will be harmed. People in such occupations or similar situations are briefed on what to do. They must immediately call the police. The police contact the media and invoke the Tiger Kidnap procedure. A press conference is held and the media will be given as much information as is available, on the strict understanding that nothing will be published until the family are safe. The police will then deal with the situation and the media will have the certain knowledge that they will be given the go ahead as soon as possible. This system has been in successful operation for the last 30 years or more.
In later life, in HMP Norwich, Neilson was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. He was taken from there to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he died, aged 75, on 18th December 2011.
The Perfect Crime Page 32
