Death on the Beat

Little shocks the British public more than learning of the killing of policemen and women whilst tackling criminals. Even the vast majority of hardened crooks baulk at what is seen as the ultimate crime – the mandatory death sentence in days of capital punishment reflected public disgust at such a crime, particularly when the police were largely unarmed.

This book spans fifty years of crime enforcement and describes in detail the ever present danger to the police who patrolled London’s streets and who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Many of the police officers died carrying out run-of-the-mill police duties; from PC Nat Edgar, shot in 1948 by a burglar to PC Patrick Dunne, the home beat officer murdered while investigating a domestic incident in 1993; it took 13 years for his killer to be brought to justice.

WPC Yvonne Fletcher was mercilessly gunned-down policing a demonstration in Central London in 1984, as was Detective Sergeant Ray Purdy, whilst arresting a cheap blackmailer. PC Ray Summers, an officer with less than two years service, stabbed to death as he broke up a gang fight, and the three-man crew of the ‘Q’ car wiped out by gunmen in 1966, all feature in these pages. There are the thrilling stories of the investigations into the IRA after the murder of PC Stephen Tibble and the horrific bombing of Harrods store which cost three brave police officers their lives.

Retired detective Dick Kirby has drawn deep on his knowledge and contacts within and outside the Metropolitan Police to track down those people who were there, who were involved in the investigations and those who were left behind; and how the trauma of losing a colleague or a loved one affected them.

Written in his trademark gripping authoritative style, Death on the Beat, Dick Kirby’s ninth book, promises to be the best yet.