The Last Linslade Bobby. Chapter Four Part Two.

Part Two...

There are unsubstantiated stories from the early
twentieth century of officers finding a body in the river Ouse
(Lovat), the county border before 1966 and shoving it to the other
bank so the 'crime' was 'out of county'. This might have happened a
few time to a body before someone took it seriously. The current
river Ouse is not in its original river bed. The old mill-leet to the
mill at the end of Mill Road is now the river's path. The old river
ran about where Vimy Road now is into Tesco. It was filled in.

Another very sad incident I was involved in but only on
the very edge, was of a drunken brawl that ended in tragedy. Three
young lads who could not hold their drink staggered out of the Globe
one night, over the canal bridge and up the hill to the main road.
There they met a chap who remonstrated with them about the noise they
were kicking up. In the old Sutherlands School next to the Globe
access road exit onto the B4032 Stoke Road, was Les Goulding and his
wife, both in their seventies. They heard the noise and soon realised
it was not just a fight. They heard the chap who had told these three
lads to quieten down being kicked to death. He was pleading with them
to stop, begging for his life, but the three were kicking him
continuously breaking bones until he was unconscious. Mrs. Goulding
dialled 999 three times and was terrified. Neither dared to go out
and see what was happening. Eventually it all went quiet and the
police still had not arrived. By now it was midnight and the few
officers on duty were sorting out another fight outside the Unicorn
Night Club in Lake Street (now called Shades). A lady had arranged to
collect her husband from the Stoke Hammond Three Locks pub as he had
had a few drinks. She drove their car from Linslade along Stoke Road
and saw something dark in the road way near Sutherlands School. She
tried to avoid it but it was later thought her rear axle differential
case had hit the poor chap as she passed over him. She had seen the
three drunks further in the town. He died of his injuries for simply
telling three drunken criminals to be quiet.

Eventually they were arrested and were charged with
Manslaughter. After serving half their prison sentences they were
released. One took to religion as he was so full of remorse, another
committed suicide in the lake by Luton Hoo and was not found until
his bloated body floated up from the mud. The other still lives in
the town keeping a low profile. Where did I come into the story? Well
I had to deal with the elderly Goulding couple who were very unhappy
with the lack of any Police response. I also dealt with all three
over their parole conditions (ie, watching them). The one who
eventually committed suicide had found rented accommodation in
Linslade and had paid about £300 as a deposit. He moved in only to
be kicked out a day later by the landlord. The chap who showed him
the flat was a local con-merchant who did not own it. There is no
honour amongst thieves. I took the crime report for the 'deception'
but the lad would not name who had tricked him. I did eventually find
out but with no statement from a witness there was little that could
be done.

Fights
and Domestics.

Luckily for me most of the Friday and Saturday night
pub-fights occurred in Leighton town centre. I did not miss them all
as I was often grabbed to drive the town's 'Riot Van', on overtime,
with three or four Special Constables on board as back-up to the
patrol officers out in panda cars. In such a small town as Leighton
Linslade, the 'late shift' officers would become the back-up to the
'night shift' on the weekend evenings. This was done on overtime
often until 3am and you were back on duty at 2pm the same day. There
is no long line of 'spare' police officers at the Police Station as
everyone thinks. We relied heavily on the 'Specials' who back then
outnumbered we regulars every Friday and Saturday. With night clubs
such as the 'Unicorn' not closing until 2am we had to police the town
centre until it was quiet.

One afternoon I was just finishing a cup of tea and yet
another huge lump of Ann's excellent carrot-cake at my Soulbury Road
tea-spot when my radio demanded I go to a fight at an address not far
from the Buckingham Arms at the Old Road-Soulbury Road junction. This
was just down the road and I arrived within minutes. It was the wrong
address which had been phoned in and whilst the call-handling-centre
operator at Kempton HQ control-room double-checked with her informant
I continued on down to the canal bridge in case the fight was near
the Kebab shop, where there were often disagreements. (When I was off
duty once, a section officer had had to deal with a member of the
shop chasing a cheeky lad down Leighton Road with the huge knife as
big as a sword used to cut the kebab meat.) As I arrived and stood
outside the little motorcycle shop that was there then, opposite the
kebab shop, it was also obviously quiet. Then the address was
confirmed and I walked quickly back up Old Road towards it. As I was
in uniform, unless it is a life and death incident, one is not
supposed to run as this sometimes causes the public to panic. So I
walked very fast. They had only just widened Wing Road junction then
with a Pelican Crossing. Standing at the crossing with I assumed her
grand child was a well known member today of the LL U3A (University
of the Third Age). I ignored the red light for pedestrians and
crossed the road. This lady remonstrated with me that just how was
she to train her grand-child to obey pedestrian crossing red lights
if a police officer totally ignored it. She was angry with me but I
was not about to tell her I was in a hurry (she is now a retired
teacher). I arrived at the house to find the back door open, I went
in to see that the banister rail was smashed as was the stairs post.
The wooden post was on the floor with blood on it. There was no one
in the house but they had obviously only just left and there had been
one hell of a punch up going by the damage. Who ever had dialled 999
had said there were serious injuries and just as I was about to radio
in, a CID car pulled up. (You can tell CID cars a mile off, they have
no police markings but the tax disc says 'NIL' where the fee should
be, and there is a police radio under the dash on the passenger
side.) It transpired later that the two men who had been fighting
over a woman (was it ever thus?) had each gone to A&E at
hospitals out of our county (Milton Keynes and Hemel) so as to not be
traced by Beds Police. No one ever made any official complaint about
their injuries, so it was all filed No Further Action (NFA).

Another day at about noon, I was patrolling Wing Road
and intending to visit John's second-hand shop in New Road (now
Linslade Plumbers) for a cup of tea and a chat. As I walked past a
front door close to the Zebra Crossing between Church Road and New
Road, I saw it was open. As I often came across elderly ladies who
had forgotten to close their door or often leaving their keys in the
lock, I knocked to get attention to check. There was no reply so I
pushed it further open. There, at the end of the passage, was a
glass-paneled door. The panel by the handle was smashed and there was
fresh blood on the glass and a trail across the floor to the front
door. I asked for a panda car just in case it was to turn serious and
calling out I went in. I was careful to step so as to not disturb any
evidence. I heard a panda pull up and WPC Dianne Steward appeared at
the open front door. I told her to wait there whilst I checked out
the house in case there was someone injured. I found no one, just the
broken glass and blood.

About five minutes later a lady arrived with her
daughter's hand all bandaged up. The little girl had broken the glass
panel, cutting her hand accidentally. In such a rush was the mother
to get her to a doctor (at the surgery at 1, Leighton Road,) she had
not pulled to front door shut properly. I suggested it was a good job
it was I who had found it open, not one of our roaming ferral
teenagers looking for an opportunistic burglary.

Police Station Closed.

I mentioned the time that the Leighton Buzzard Police
'Station' turned into a simple Police 'Office'. It was in the mid
1990s that costs were to be reduced and the station had its CID,
Scenes of Crime, Community Officer (PC Bill Drew), Crime Prevention
(PC Dave Rawlings), CID Admin ( Mrs Joan Lambert MBE), all moved to
Dunstable and only the patrol officers and LBOs remained along with
two traffic wardens ( Fay Barrett and Dierdre Elliot). The enquiry
office was only to open from 0700 to 2200 (7am to 10pm). The cells
were no longer to be used as all prisoners were to be taken to
Dunstable where a Duty Custody Sergeant would welcome them. So
Leighton 'nick became just a office for police, it could no longer
carry out breath tests for alcohol or house arrested suspects. But it
was the local press who caused real problems. One day I was walking
around Bideford Green when an elderly man ran out of his front door.
He told me he was really pleased to see me as he had witnessed two
cars being broken into the night previously. I asked if he had
dialled 999? He replied he had not because the papers said the police
station was closed at night so it was a waste of time. I cringed and
informed him that though the enquiry office was indeed closed, there
was still a full shift of police officers on duty and out on patrol.
I told him the 999 calls always go direct to the HQ Control Room who
are in contact with every officer on duty by radio. He raised his
eyebrows and said the way it had appeared in the press that there
were no police in Leighton or Linslade at night! I took a statement
from him but we never caught the lads. At that time there was a spate
of thefts from cars and it was too easy. Far too many people left
things on view or simply did not lock their cars. Even so it only
required a window breaking to gain access. He treated me to a cup of
tea and related a tale of the days when Linslade was in
Buckinghamshire not Bedfordshire, and when it had its own Police
Station in Wing Road with an Inspector, three Sergeants and seven or
eight Constables to cover this side of Aylesbury. Now there was only
me. In 1966 Linslade had been moved into Beds. The Linslade police
station became famous in 1963 due to the Great Train Robbery and the
Linslade Magistrates Court (also long gone) dealt with the offender's
charges. The building still stands to the south of Wing Road not far
from Ship Road and the Ship Inn public house but opposite. Above the
old station front door are the words “Police Station” cast in the
lintel. Today it is a private house.

The idea that there were no officers on duty in the town
at night often came up from residents who had misunderstood the new
enquiry office hours. Today Leighton has no Magistrates Court either
and soon no police office if the cuts we hear of are carried out (Nov
2012).

I did bump into a retired police officer, who had once
been a sergeant in the Bucks Constabulary (now Thames Valley) and
served in Linslade. He told me that there had been an inspector,
three sergeants and about six constables based at the Police Station
in Wing Road. They had their own cells and magistrates court. This
all changed in 1966 when Linslade was moved into Bedfordshire. He was
then (1991) the Water Bailiff for the Grand Union canal and river
Ouse, checking fishing permits, rod licenses and canal boat 'tax
discs'.

Pub Checks.

As part of my beat duties was to visit licensed
premisses at least once a month. This included all the pubs, off
licenses and betting shops. The only betting shop was in Wing Road
and never a problem. The Bedford Arms at the Wing Road to Stoke Road
junction required watching but only because a few 'known to me' drank
there. The little bar down off the canal bridge was again usually
quiet and I could always find Curtis Ebanks propping up the bar.
Curtis was our council road sweeper and as fit as a butcher's dog. He
was then in his late fifties (and is still with us today though
retired in 2012) and had come over from Trinidad in the early 1950s.
He had cataracts in his eyes even then and it worried me that he
would be working at the edge of the roads with cars very close
passing him. The Ship Inn was then run by the chairman of the local
Victulars publicans group and no problem, likewise the only pub in
Southcott, The Hare, being used mostly by well to do London commuters
at the weekends. The Clarendon in New Road was always an old mans pub
and I watched it slowly fade away and eventually become a set of
flats, again for London commuters as it is close to the station. The
White Lion and The Hunt Hotel in New Road were both very quiet
places. The Buckingham Arms was well run by its landlord and just
across the road the Station Hotel catered for the visitor. Alas this
was burnt down when a workman left a blow lamp on near the roof
joists during a major refurbishment. Because the owner had not
informed his insurance company of the work, they refused to pay out,
which is why it is still just a shell. Each visit I made was recorded
in my pocket note book and on the Pub List at the police station.
This list, with any comments, was referred to by the Magistrates when
the license was renewed.

There was an off-license in Old Road run by a couple,
she looked after the shop and he worked at Vauxhalls in Luton. They
had the shop laid out with the till and counter at the very rear.
This meant they could not see who was entering the shop or most of
their stock. The lady being overweight was non-too quick and would
fumble about to get out from behind the counter and the local lads
soon cottoned on to the fact they were invisible if they just darted
in and grabbed a six-pack or a bottle or two. Thefts by youths of
bottles of booze became an epidemic. So when filling in yet another
crime report where the lady could give me no description of the
thief, I suggested that they either move the counter to the door to
control entry, or/and fit CCTV. Not being one to waste money, the
husband did not move the counter but did install two little CCTV
cameras and a screen that was next to the till. So on my next visit
for yet another 'shop lifting' I was pleased to see the CCTV set up.
But alas, to save money the cameras only monitored the shop
real-time; none of it was recorded. There was no video tape of the
offenders! They had already noted the lack of any video recorder. I
told her that soon she would go out of business unless they seriously
improved their security.

I mentioned that the Station Hotel burned down. Prior to
this I had visited it often on my pub checks and had seen the huge
glass bottle on the counter, used to collect customer's 'shrapnel'
for charity. Shrapnell is all the loose change of small denomination
in your pocket. This bottle was nearly full the last time I had seen
it and the lady behind the bar told me there were a few hundred
pounds in it, she pointed out a Scottish pound note half way down
amongst the coins, of the Clydesdale Bank. At the time this meant
little to me. But the day after the place had been raised to the
ground, a newly-wed young couple who lived nearby had seen a car
parked outside the building and they watched a young man walk out of
the building carrying this large and heavy bottle from the bar, still
full of money. They were suspicious and contacted the lady bar keeper
who lived nearby as well. She confirmed it was no one she knew and it
had been stolen. I then took a crime report and statements that
included a very good description of the thief and his car with its
registration number. Upon checking the registration with Swansea via
the police national computer (PNC) I now had a name and address, of a
lady. I visited her and she reluctantly gave me her boyfriends name
and address and a statement that he had been driving the car at the
time of the theft. He was at work so I obtained a warrant from the
Leighton Magistrate's Court as I was on-route to his home (you cannot
do that now, you have to travel to Luton and by the time you had got
back, the girlfriend would have told her partner of my visit and he
would have shot home and removed any evidence.)

Continued......