Page 219 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

fugitive after shooting a man in Sheffield following an argument. Eventually
his travels brought him to London, where he committed his most skilled heists
over the course of 2 years. During the day he was a well-dressed and
respected violinist who performed at local concerts. By night he would burgle
fancy houses while the owners were asleep. On one notable occasion, the
owners woke up during a burglary and set their Bulldog on Peace, who
responded by punching it in the face, killing the poor animal, before
escaping. He bought multiple houses with his burglary proceeds and
decorated them with expensive furniture.

Eventually Peace was captured during a mansion burglary. Police officers
noticed Peace climbing through a window and ordered him to halt. Instead
he opened fire on the officers, hitting one in the right arm with a bullet.
However, he was wrestled to the ground and charged with burglary and
attempted murder under the alias John Ward. His girlfriend then betrayed his
identity to the police in order to collect a £100 reward on his head. Peace
was executed in Armley Prison, in Leeds, at the age of 47.

Make no mistake, the burglaries we dealt with at Erdington and Kingstanding
bore no resemblance to the stuff of folklore. The majority involved teenage
hoodlums who would force or smash transom windows, or at best lever patio
doors out of their runners to gain entry.

Two apparently entrepreneurial brothers turned out to be among the most
stupid. Mark Webster was working the Kingstanding patch and asked me to
help out with an enquiry. We got to the complainants house in Lambeth
Road and found the house ransacked. What we couldn’t ascertain straight
away was the point of entry. No windows broken, no forced doors. It wasn’t
until we went upstairs and saw the loft panel disturbed that we decided to
investigate. Mark as the smallest, was hoisted up into the loft with a torch
where he found the point of entry. A hole had been smashed in the adjoining
loft wall from the house next door. At least we wouldn’t have far to go to find
the culprits. We arrested two brothers living next door who protested they’d
been out shopping with their mum all day. The recovery of a lump hammer
with fresh loft wall brick dust on it, together with all the stolen items put paid
to that alibi.

Friday 1 August was a game changer of a day for me. Detective Chief
st
Inspector Gordon Heatley called me into his office to deliver a very cryptic
message that I had an appointment later that day, with the head of
divisional CID, Detective Superintendent Jim Kelly at Queens Road, Aston
(Divisional HQ). He was very sombre, guarded and wouldn’t say what the
meeting was about so I was naturally fearful and suspicious.

Back in the office, Cliff gave nothing away, though I discovered later, he Page219
knew everything of what was about to unfold.