The Psycho Cop Killer Who Evaded Capture For 17 Days | Our Life

[Music] July 4th 1982 armed police shoot cop killer Barry prudom the biggest Manhunt in Britain is at an [Music] end [Music] the final chapter in the life of Barry Peter Edwards Alias prudom has focused on the events surrounding his death on a sports ground only yards from the center of Molton in North yoria the inquest heard heard that an armed police team approached a lean two where they belied someone was hiding a single shot rang out police took cover and repeated calls were made for the man to give himself up there was no response and Chief Inspector Clarkson gave the order to open [Applause] fire when I went to the inquest and heard the evidence one could understand understand why the police acted in the way that they did but standing here now one knows that it simply wouldn't happen in that way today and and that Barry prom I suspect would would have been in court uh to stand trial Barry prudom died in a crude hideout on the edge of Molton tennis and Bows Club the police barrage was prompted by a single shot from prudom which later proved to be to his own head if prudom had stood trial it would have been for multiple murder over a fortnight PM shot three police officers and a retired couple June 17th 1982 Warren Point North Yorkshire prudom on the run from an assault charge was approached by local Bobby PC David hag prudom shot him in the head at the spot where PC hag's body was found close to his Panda car near Norwood Edge a similar car was parked in the hope of jogging the memory of drivers who passed on the morning of the murder in a 3-hour period 300 cars were stopped and drivers were shown the photofit picture of The Wanted Man prudom fled South to Newark and killed again on June 23rd George Luckett died and his wife was severely injured when PRM burgled their [Music] home he returns to North Yorkshire to hide out in the dense Dolby Forest June 25th police dog handler Ken Oliver had The Misfortune to approach him and was shot in the back now The Manhunt went into full swing Robert Hall then a young calendar reporter was scrambled from leads to cover the story this particular Patrol out ahead of the main search parties had decided to use a forestry commission Tower as a vantage point for their Sharpshooters it's 4:30 in the morning and we're with one of the armed police squads that have been on duty in the forest throughout the night we stumbled across a clearing in the forest where two tracks crossed and there was a fire control tower there and a couple of unmarked police cars um I think from North Yorkshire and Marksman in the process of climbing up these towers and around us there were other marksmen crouching in the in in the trees the fact that they're all armed with loaded weapons and covering one another indicates just how serious the situation in the forest is you can hear the trepidation in my voice cuz it was it was scary the we were surrounded by policemen with guns for all we knew prom was in the trees with what whatever Firearms he had and and and we were a Target but it it didn't happen it's now midafternoon and this is the scene in Dolby Forest Police are now regrouping to begin a major search elsewhere in the area there are more and more heavily armed police and although no direct information is being given out at this stage the obvious assumption that we're drawing is that senior officers believe the man they're hunting is still in the area but in the midst prudom eludes the ever increasing numbers of police Searchers he headed south on foot and on June 28th boldly walked into the market town of Molton tragically it was one of the only unarmed officers in the area who saw him and approached him prudom drew his gun chased the officer across the road and callously shot him in the head the chief Constable Kenneth Henshaw informed the pr press on the lawn of the local police station the following described man was cited at approximately 210 p.m. he was later stopped and checked by Sergeant Winters and the incident took place in a field in Old Molton the man is described as being white early 30s approximately 5' 8 in tall slim build thin-faced sow complexion high cheekbones with two days growth of beard a man of this description was reported to have been seen running along yorker's gate Molton and a search took place pruden's Escape Route is blocked by the river and there's an army of police on his heels but he found a disused railway cutting in a place known locally as Willow Wood it goes in the wrong direction taking him back past the police search parties but extraordinarily he made it going under the road bridge next to the police station he scrambled up the opposite Bank of The Cutting to what became his final Hiding Place Molton tennis and Bows Club sleepy Molton is now the center of a national story the police have discovered the name of the Killer and know now he's trained in survival tactics he's a very dangerous man he's a man who has got no regard for human life at all he's a coldblooded killer Peter Walker then the police press officer was more used to dealing with local journalists and minor incidents suddenly he's got a press pack on his back asking why after nearly 2 weeks ever increasing numbers of officers can't find a man who appears every few days kills at will and then melts away initially there were 450 officers deployed um searching the forest but once um it was after K Oliver was attacked it was when Sergeant David winter was shot in Molton that really the in Hunt intensified by calling in more officers and then I think at one point they 800 engaged in the search and you've got more armed men yes we have why is that uh the again the area is larger so we don't need greater strength in the area and uh we need these Swift response teams as well who will go out to investigate various incidents around the county every incident I to he's investigated by team of arm men now the manh Hunt is getting nowhere but it was Walker's job to be confident even though he knew every policeman in the area was a potential Target we're very confident yes the indications are that we are getting nearer and there's an air of confidence in the police station today it looks like he's going to go in a blaze of what he thought was Glory um so he would not surrender and he I think from what we gathered he intended taking as many police officers with him as he could before he went it's now 7:00 in the morning and the police operation which has already been underway for some 2 hours is moving into Top Gear everyone is on the alert even the smallest incident is Thoroughly checked why have you asked the policeman to come and help you this morning uh because I found some foot marks from our garden to the to the next door it must be quite scary you knowing that this man could be right around your house oh I'm I'm on the they'll find him I I keep looking around myself but none of the leads take the police near approm days pass and no progress is made even so journalists have to file stories Robert Hall found another angle at the local newspaper instead of the usual news of council RS Agriculture and local events the news Department here are faced with one of the biggest Stories the area has ever seen it's a very quiet area is normally you know I can make get tou with the police regularly and nothing you know stolen car and this kind of thing but very little happening and this has obviously just turned everything inside out my only aim as a journalist was only ever to report what had happened not to try to make it happen but uh it seemed to me at the press conferences that I went up to the the police there that there was a bit of a struggle to keep the story interesting because this man had you know was like a rabbit he'd gone down a hole just as the trail seemed to have gone completely cold a single shot rang out near the police station was prudom at large again this time the press as well as the police were in the firing line now photographer I remember dragged me down to knee level saying you're going to get shot get your head down and I thought no I'm not this is not real you know this is kind I can't happen it's not going to happen when I switched the TV on at at night when I got there there's Nicholas witchell standing there doing his piece to camera talking about bullets whistling around his ears you know and uh we found out later that the only that shot the only shot that was fired by the police that day had actually was an inspector who'd accidentally let off a gun through the roof of the police van so I don't know where Good Old Nicholas got got his bullets whistling around his ears with out of desperation or simply to take police out of the firing line the chief Constable accepted the offer of help from a civilian xas man Eddie McGee I now have the services of of an expert who has extensive knowledge of the art of tracking and he's now busy he's found certain marks which give us uh confidence that he's on the right Trail McGee's task isn't easy he's helicoptered to every sighting dogged by journalists and frustrated by every location being trampled over concentrate like bloody AR we really are cuz this vast is going round and round in circles on top of that everybody El is columns in all directions so give these blocks a chance are you sure they are to get this bastard is it one way or the other prudom was still safe in his hideout in the end it will be McGee who finds him there anything like the prudom Manhunt it turned the town from rural idle into a hostile in a city as the police put it under siege even the gentle thud of Willow on leather was suspended for the duration you have to remember this is a really sleepy little North Yorkshire town in the middle of July and suddenly all this happens I mean for example this Cricket pitch you'd expect the cricket team would have been playing here but everything stopped because this became an impromptu Airfield pilots and response teams are growing used to an operation which closely resembles the scramble so well known by the RAF an alert which often follows a phone call from a member of the public is flashed to Molton police station and from there by radio to this control Caravan there were sightings all the time so these helicopters would go up with Marksman on board and they would head off and and circle this the area that had been identified to my memory two or three helicopters uh in and out of here including one that the Metropolitan Police had brought in is this the sort of work you'd normally be doing uh yes it's very much akin to what we do in London looking for suspects persons concerned in crime and searching areas as necessary of course you're in a new area the terrain is new to certainly to one of your pilots and to you is that presenting any problems for you they're going go and get some Coates yes but of course they were searching in the wrong place the tennis club is just over the road from the cricket ground in the old vicarage next to prom's Hideout Dennis and Dean Reed were unaware of their new neighbor Dennis followed events on the police radio while his son Ian then Molt's mayor helps the police with local information from his office at the waterboard behind the police station policeman arrived with shotguns with no protective clothing it was only when they started bringing the big police authorities in like man Chester and Newcastle and and South the auction metropolitan areas where they had special Firearms units and that was later on but up till that point it was just your normal heartbeat Bobby with a gun it was a group without being ruled a group of amateurs he it would be cited all over the place the Scarecrow was cited and they sent a helicopter to look at it and found it was a scarecrow well it should never have been reported it was I don't know whether it was over enthusiasm or just an attempt to see a bit of action in our corner you know under certain rather mysterious circumstances I thought at the time um the chief Constable of Manchester sent his chauffeur driven car uh which came to the water board not the police station and uh he opened the boot and it was full of armor light rifles which I recognize there was some some pretty awesome firep power people have never seen a thousand policemen all at once before never mind all the sophisticated Armory and you know it was quite something for Molton good morning nice morning it is it is you're off shopping are you no I'm going to open my house out you see I'm looked up see if there's any mail for me and uh you see both WIS so we coupled do I came up here to sleep you see and I'm going down just to draw the curtains and see it dos okay and see if I've got a letter from my family are you happy wandering down there on your own why someone's going with my hand there you'd like me to come yes okay just to see me into the uh have you been worried at night have you managed to get any sleep well night before last I never closed my eyes but I've had a better night cuz I I took a sleeping tablet last night and we had early night and then where what do you think to this man that they're all looking for oh I don't know if I had a gun I would shout him the Press had dubbed the prudom story The Siege of Molton and it was a siege that affected everyone's lives what struck Us's journalist and when you think about the way they deal with Firearms things now was that it's it was all felt a bit chaotic to be honest it was a bit unnerving when you went out in a pickup like we did you would get to all Molton and you'd be stopped and there'd be a policeman there with a gun pointing at you and a man with a clipboard who are you who you working for where are you going what time do you expect to be back you I I can see that gun now with the man's trigger on and but it I don't know it was a bit bit iffy and um you suddenly have a helicopter following you around until you end up at your at your own house and when you think about in July the amount of undergrowth and the amount of stuff that's growing here you could last for a long long time it all seemed to revolve around where it' been supposedly seen last because they were dashing about they kept getting these reports I remember the these convoys of police cars all dashing out then they'd come back and out again well a lot of people would then get down into Willowwood w't they it'll be down at Willowwood go down into Willowwood but no they wouldn't the only place they didn't look where they should have looked was under that Railway Bridge of all Molton Road within 50 yards at police station I walked every day across the railway cutting and uh on my way to a police press conference and I'd look over it and every day I thought to myself that's a great place to hide but unlike you know drama uh TV reporters in dramas uh I did nothing about it I didn't even mention it to anybody and um and that's the very place where he was prudom emerged from hiding just once on July 3rd he walked 50 yards to a house behind the tennis club where he'd been stealing cat food from an outbuilding to survive he took a family hostage for 12 hours but they talked to him made him tea and sandwiches he left them alive thanked them for what he called his last supper and returned to his Hideout next morning McGee followed his tracks and they LED straight to to his den and I went forward on my hands feeling the ground until I saw this little bit of a blue plastic bag that looked like a plastic bag just casually moved to one side and I didn't pay too much attention to it because I was actually looking for tracks and I went forward I changed probes like that I put my hand forward to lift up this probe and as I put my hand just inside this rough shelter where the wood was suddenly the foot flew back and the foot hit me on the knee sent me scolling back and I jumped up in the air the officer was over there and I I didn't shout I said is there it wasn't McGee's job to tackle prudom that task fell to Chief Inspector David Clarkson and his team of four Firearms Specialists from West Yorkshire I put a containment around him Firearms containment around him myself being the pistol my second was with the shotgun and further back with the rifle was the sniper there was no what can I say positive evidence to say that the man behind that screen was in fact prudom nobody had seen him so it wasn't up to me to go in even though it killed three people it wasn't up to me then to go in and say look give yourself up are you are you dead there's a ravine there which I think come from the Old Railway sidings next thing we know is uh North York suddenly come up uh at the side of us right in our line of fire should anything go wrong we discovered that the North Yorkshire Firearms response teams was on a different wavelength to ourselves so consequently we couldn't talk to them absolutely frightening I decided that I would go around the back to a wall so it got me behind the wall where they leaned to was uh was was was obviously leaning and um looking over the wall and I as I'm I'm stretched because it's a fairly thick stone wall as I'm stretched over the wall Boom the shot went off now I for one thought he was at me um and so I dropped down obviously frighten to death a stone grenade was dropped in but it made no difference none whatsoever so again I spoke to um to uh prove them as it turned out to be I said look give yourself up give yourself up uh and let's talk things through just just trying to get him communicating nothing happened and uh this it might seem a long time but this is a matter of a minute at the most and so I thought right fire so my shotgun man uh fired and um at the same time of course the north yor sh officers fired as [Music] well everybody gets hyped up and the adrenaline flows it's no different to any other job when adrenaline flows adrenaline flows yeah and the trauma of what can say dealing with a thing like that is something that I don't wish anybody to experience now when the jury returned their verdict of suicide was unanimous as police fired at him Barry Peter Edwards had been dead summing up coroner Michael Oakley thanked police and public and he closed with a comment directed at all the families connected with the case we should not forget he said all those who've suffered and will continue to suffer after this inquest has been closed I think there's a feeling of obviously a feeling of sadness for his victims but I think there's also a feeling of regret certainly as a journalist that you never heard his story you never heard why this had happened what had happened in in this man's life to turn him and make him do these Dreadful things and we all wanted to know that and I suppose in a way we felt cheated we knew that he was a killer we knew that you couldn't take a risk with him and that's why at the end of the day I wasn't prepared to take a risk I know other people have different ideas but that's what I thought yeah [Music] [Music] n

Channel: True Lives

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Length: 22min 45sec (1365 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 03 2023