Harry Roberts was convicted in December 1966 at the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, of the murder of three Metropolitan Police officers: Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, Detective Constable David Wombwell and Police Constable Geoffrey Fox. The officers died on August 12, 1966 in Shepherd's Bush, west London. Roberts was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the trial judge recommended that he serve a minimum of 30 years.
He remained in custody for 48 years, well beyond the 30 years recommended at his trial. In November 2014 he was released on licence after a Parole Board decision, a step that drew public anger and that the Government described as a decision for an independent body. His death at the age of 89 was reported in December 2025.
Roberts was born in 1936 in Wanstead, in east London. He was 30 years old at the time of the offenses in August 1966.
The dead were members of the Metropolitan Police: Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, Detective Constable David Wombwell and Police Constable Geoffrey Fox. All three died in Shepherd's Bush on August 12, 1966. In October 2014 the Prime Minister's spokesperson said the Government understood the strength of public feeling the case had provoked.
Two men were taken into custody within days. John Edward Witney was charged on August 15, 1966, and John Duddy was arrested in Glasgow in the same week. Roberts was not found until November 1966. He was arrested in Hertfordshire after a search lasting about three months. The trial of Witney and Duddy had been set for November 14, 1966, and it was abandoned once Roberts was in custody so that the three men could be tried together.
The trial of the three defendants began at the Old Bailey on December 6, 1966. It lasted about six days. On December 12, 1966 the jury returned its verdicts, and Roberts was convicted of the murder of the three police officers. The jury took about thirty minutes.
Roberts was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial judge recommended a minimum of 30 years. The judge's view of the case was put to Parliament in 1991 in the words attributed to him, that it was likely that no Home Secretary "regarding the enormity of your crime will ever think fit to show mercy."
John Duddy and John Witney were convicted with Roberts at the Old Bailey in December 1966, and each received a sentence of life imprisonment. Duddy died in 1981. Witney was released on life licence in 1991 after almost 25 years in custody. The Government told the House of Lords in July 1991 that the Parole Board had advised in November 1988 that he no longer presented a risk to the public, and that in February 1989 the Home Secretary decided that he could be released after a further two years. The release was made under the Criminal Justice Act 1967, on the Home Secretary's authority and after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice. Witney's sentence was described in the House of Lords as life imprisonment for "participation in the murder of a policeman."
A life sentence in England carried no fixed end. The recommendation of the trial judge was not binding on the Home Secretary, as a Government minister told the House of Lords in 1991, and release depended on advice from the Parole Board. Roberts remained in custody after the 30 years recommended at his trial had passed.
By October 2001 he had been moved to open conditions, with good prospects of a recommendation for release on life licence. Allegations followed about conduct in custody, and he was moved back to closed conditions while his Parole Board review continued. The Board decided that sensitive material would be disclosed only to a special advocate and not to Roberts or his lawyers. He challenged that decision in the High Court, where his claim failed in 2003, and the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on July 28, 2004. He lost a further appeal in the House of Lords in July 2005.
In October 2014 the Parole Board directed his release. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said on October 23, 2014 that the release decision was "one made by the independent Parole Board." A Ministry of Justice spokesman said release was directed by the independent Parole Board once it was satisfied that the prisoner could be safely managed in the community. Roberts, who was 78, left custody in November 2014 after serving 48 years. He lived afterwards in England under the terms of a life licence.
Police leaders objected. The Metropolitan Police Federation's general secretary later said that life should mean life for the murder of a police officer in the course of duty, and that Roberts should never have been freed. Others, including the Deputy Prime Minister at the time, defended the Board's role and the principle that a body independent of the government should decide such releases.
Roberts died at the age of 89, and the death was reported in December 2025, eleven years after his release. Duddy had died in 1981, and Witney had also died more than 25 years earlier. The Metropolitan Police Federation issued a statement after the death was announced.
When Roberts was sentenced, a trial judge could recommend a minimum period for a life sentence, but the recommendation was not binding. Under the Criminal Justice Act 1967 a life prisoner could be released on licence on the Home Secretary's authority, after the Parole Board had advised and the Lord Chief Justice had been consulted. By 2014 the release of such a prisoner was directed by the Parole Board itself, once it was satisfied that the prisoner could be safely managed in the community. Roberts's own challenge to the Board's use of a special advocate in his review was heard by the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
The allegations of 2001 that led to his return to closed conditions are not recorded as the subject of a criminal charge. The 2014 dispute concerned whether a sentence handed down with a recommended minimum of 30 years should have ended in release; the Parole Board's task was to decide whether detention was necessary for the protection of the public.
August 12, 1966: Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, Detective Constable David Wombwell and Police Constable Geoffrey Fox die in Shepherd's Bush, London.
August 15, 1966: John Edward Witney is charged.
August 1966: John Duddy is arrested in Glasgow.
November 14, 1966: the first trial date set for Witney and Duddy; the trial is abandoned when Roberts is in custody.
November 1966: Roberts is arrested in Hertfordshire after a search lasting about three months.
December 6, 1966: the trial of Roberts, Duddy and Witney begins at the Old Bailey.
December 12, 1966: the verdicts; Roberts is sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommended minimum of 30 years.
1981: John Duddy dies.
1988 to 1991: the Parole Board advises on Witney; he is released on life licence in 1991.
2001: Roberts is moved from open to closed conditions during a Parole Board review.
July 28, 2004: the Court of Appeal dismisses his appeal against the special advocate procedure.
July 2005: the House of Lords dismisses his further appeal.
October 23, 2014: the Parole Board's release decision is made public.
November 2014: Roberts is released on licence.
December 2025: his death at the age of 89 is reported.