Dixon Of Dock Green (1955) s20e17 Episode Script
Firearms Were Issued
Good evening, all.
One afternoon at 2.
55pm, three men walked into a bank in North London.
All the men were armed with revolvers.
The bank manager coming back from a late lunch realised what was happening and ran back into the street shouting for help.
The three men opened fire.
The bank manager was badly wounded, as were two passers-by, a woman and a child.
The men escaped with £80,000 in new £5 notes.
From the descriptions given, the police were anxious to question three men with previous convictions for violence called Price, Wade and Kendrick.
But they went to ground.
No-one knew where they were.
Yes.
8 Brennen Terrace.
Oh, Leonard Terrace.
You'll have to speak up.
Payout? What payout? There's a call on the other line.
We want it traced.
How do I know this is on the up and up? Who? I can't hear you very well.
Price.
Wade.
Kelly.
Oh, Kendrick.
Are you sure? Don't hang up.
Tell me who you are, where I can get hold of you.
Nothing yet, sir.
All right, I'll take your line.
You get a nondescript van round to this address.
I don't want them to do anything, just report if there's any sign of life.
- Tell 'em to make it quick.
- Right, sir.
Divisional headquarters.
I'm sorry, sir.
If you've shut yourself out, you'll have to get a locksmith.
Yeah.
Well, I should try the Yellow Pages, sir.
- George.
- Yeah.
Yes.
Well, I'm very sorry, sir.
Right, thank you.
Bye.
- I want firearms issued, four.
38s.
- What's happened? A phone call from an anonymous informant saying the men who pulled the North London bank job - Can you trust an anonymous informant? - He knew what he was talking about.
And he gave the names of three good blaggers, Price, Wade and Kendrick.
A Q-car's been round there and they report there are lights on in the house and a car outside.
My governor at Division has authorised the issue of arms to myself and DC Cox, but I shall need two armed uniformed men as well who are authorised shots.
Sergeant Wills, he's an expert shot, and PC Dewar, he's authorised.
- Fetch them in off the beat fast.
- Right.
- I'll have to check with my governor.
- Make it quick.
- Sir.
- Chief Superintendent Masters, please.
I don't want those villains disappearing.
Andy, did you trace that phone call? No, he rang off too soon.
It's Sergeant Dixon here, sir.
Inspector Crawford has asked for the issue of firearms, sir.
What I don't quite follow is why they have to meet to share out the money.
They drove away from that bank with 80 grand in their possession.
Yes, but all in new fivers.
The odds are there was an organiser behind it and he wouldn't take a chance on new notes.
That cash will be exchanged by now for safe money and the meet is probably on tonight.
- You done this sort of thing before? - Not for real, sir.
Only on the course.
This is different.
Take it easy.
Watch what you're doing.
Don't make a target of yourself.
Men who'd spray bullets across a crowded pavement aren't likely to have any scruples about putting one into you, all right? Yeah, great.
Understood, sir.
Right.
Inspector Crawford, 29791.
Sergeant Wills, 50723.
PC Dewar, 28723.
And DC COX, 59724.
Right.
I have to warn you all that these weapons are only to be used in case of absolute necessity.
You may only resort to firearms as a means of defence if, for example, you or anyone you are protecting should be attacked by some person using a firearm or other deadly weapon and there is no other way in which you can reasonably protect yourself or give protection.
Understood? Right, good luck.
Johnny, these places have got back gardens.
I know, reached by an alleyway.
You and Dewar are in the back garden, two other men in the side road, two more men in the front with us.
And don't use your torches.
That's asking to get shot.
Get a man to give me the nod as soon as you're in position.
Right.
All right, lads.
Here's what we want.
Dewar, you come with me covering the back garden.
You two, side alley.
You go with Inspector Crawford in the front.
There's two cars outside now, sir.
Hm.
The one with the money's probably arrived.
- Should be there now, sir.
- Hm.
We're going in.
What now? Don't move.
Wait till your eyes become adjusted to the darkness.
Try and find the light switch.
It's not working.
It's turned off at the main.
See if you can find the main switch.
Stop! I'm a police officer! Ooh! Andy! Hell and damnation! - You all right? - Yes, yes, I'm all right.
Sir! See to that one.
- Are you all right, sir? - Yeah, I'm OK.
Where are they? Come on.
We're police officers.
Come on out of there.
I'll give you fair warning, we're armed, and we've got men front and back.
Come out of there before I shoot the lock off.
Out! Face the wall.
Hands above your heads.
- Find their guns.
- We're not armed.
Shut up! One man wounded, it is thought seriously.
Ambulance required at once.
Over.
Message received.
Tell Inspector Crawford that Chief Superintendent Smith has asked to be informed of developments.
Over.
Sergeant 4-6.
Roger.
Anything? He must have dropped his gun somewhere.
Let's find it.
As far as I can gather, sir, shots were exchanged and one of the villains was wounded.
Yes, the ambulance is on its way, sir.
Yep.
Right, sir.
I'll tell him.
Anything doing, then? If not, I'll push off home.
You'd better stay put.
- Oscar Delta to Sergeant 4-6.
Over.
- Sergeant 4-6.
Over.
Tell Andy his boss'll be there in a few minutes.
Over.
OK, George.
What's all the excitement, then? What's this? Bullet nicked you? - No, sir.
Cut it on some wire.
- OK! We've recovered their share of the money, sir.
- Found it in one of the bedrooms.
- Good.
Let's go in the house.
Oh, Cox.
What have you done with the other two? - Sent them back to the station, sir.
- Well, put me in the picture.
Right, turn out your pockets.
What happened to Alec? Alec Kendrick.
There was shooting.
Where is he? We'll ask the questions.
- You're wanted on the radio, sarge.
- Right.
Did Alec have a gun? - What was that? - Nothing.
- Have you searched the house? - The obviously places, sir.
- Lifted the floorboards? - No, sir.
Well, let's have a thorough search.
Floorboards, any loose bricks in the walls, everything.
- Right, sir.
- Right, now, what about their car? - We've searched them, sir.
Nothing.
- Well, this garden's pretty overgrown.
Get some lights.
Then we can see what we're doing.
Yes, sir.
Lighting equipment required at once.
Understood.
If Brewer's there, tell him to have a go at those villains, see if he can find out where they hid those guns.
Right, Andy.
Will do.
- Cigarette? - Yeah.
Sit down, then.
- Had some tea? - Yeah.
- Want anything to eat? - No.
- What did you do with the guns, then? - What guns? Now, don't mess me about, chum.
You're going down for armed robbery and attempted murder for that Wembley blag, so don't kid yourself.
You met for the payoff and you were carrying shooters.
- No.
- You must have stashed them somewhere.
- We weren't carrying guns.
- Don't give me that.
We weren't carrying shooters tonight, I swear it.
- Cigarette? - No.
I don't smoke.
- Sir.
- Have you found something? All right, George.
But tell him to keep trying.
Roger.
- Sir.
- Hm? Both men deny being armed tonight, sir.
If four armed coppers went after three unarmed men and shot one of them They're lying- I've just been informed that a television film crew's on the way.
That's all we need.
How the devil did they get onto it? Somebody must have heard the shots, seen all the activity and made a phone call.
Yes.
All right, lads, move it along a bit.
- Sir.
- Yeah? The commander's arrived.
And Detective Chief Superintendent Donovan from A10 is with him.
I wish I were on leave.
Evening, sir.
- Any luck? - No, Sergeant.
Right.
All right, lads, you'd better try next door, front and back, and make it thorough.
- Good evening, Crawford.
- Evening, sir.
Well? They're searching the nearby gardens now in case the weapons were thrown some distance.
You pray to the Almighty that you find those guns, Crawford, or at least one.
Well, apart from those two, we've got two drunk and disorderlies in the cells and a vagrant.
- Right, George.
- Right.
Dixon, hold on a minute.
Sergeant Hedges, tag these weapons.
Inspector Crawford, Sergeant Wills, DC Cox, PC Dewar.
- Then deliver them to me at once.
- Sir.
You four go and have a meal.
You've got 30 minutes.
Inspector, no-one will discuss tonight's events.
Right, sir.
I know Crawford and Wills are married.
How about Dewar and Cox? Well, Dewar's married as well, sir, but Cox single.
He lives in the section house.
Phone the three wives and tell them their husbands won't be home until late, possibly not till morning.
Say they're engaged on an extended investigation.
Yes, sir.
Did you authorise the issue of firearms? I did, sir, yes.
I shall want to interview you as well.
You'll have to hang on too.
Very good, sir.
Hedges, that also applies to Inspector Crawford, Sergeant Wills, Cox and Dewar.
They will not leave the station.
Understood? - Yes, sir.
- Right.
Mary? Hello.
All right? And the kids? Yeah.
Yes, I'm fine, but Well, no, it's about Andy.
Yes, the usual, I'm afraid.
Yes, possibly not until the morning.
No, there's nothing to worry about.
He's involved in a lengthy investigation and he's got to stay on.
Yeah.
Yes, I know.
No, I don't think he'll be able to ring you tonight, love, no, no.
He's pretty busy.
Yeah.
OK.
Right.
Not to worry.
Night-night.
See you soon.
All right, sit down.
The man who was shot was Kendrick.
I've just spoken to the hospital.
He was hit by one bullet which is lodged close to his heart.
He is at this moment undergoing an emergency operation.
We may well be faced with a situation where an unarmed man was shot down and killed by armed police officers.
If he does die, it'll be up to a coroner's jury to establish whether it was a lawful or justifiable homicide or whether it was not.
Now, even if they do manage to save his life, one question still has to be answered.
Why was this man gunned down when he presented no danger to anyone and when there were several police officers present who could have arrested him without using excessive violence? With respect, that's using hindsight.
It was all over in a few seconds.
When this incident is read about in the newspapers and discussed on television, everyone will be using hindsight, Inspector.
The commander didn't turn up because he felt like a outing.
He has been in touch with the assistant commissioner.
I am to conduct a full investigation and establish exactly what took place.
Scotland Yard is under pressure from the news media.
The commissioner wants a full report from me by first thing in the morning.
The public are rightly sensitive about the use of firearms by police officers.
They're entitled to be assured that any misuse will be fully investigated.
Wills, I want you to sketch the back garden and indicate the position of those concerned.
- Inspector, you come with me.
- Right, sir.
Cox, wait for me in Inspector Crawford's office.
- Yes, sir.
- Let me emphasise again.
Until this investigation is concluded, none of you will discuss tonight's events with any of the others unless I'm present.
- Is that clear? - Yes, sir.
- Well, get on with it, Wills.
- Yes, sir.
You know me, Price.
- Yeah.
- Sir.
- Yes, sir.
- That's better.
Let's keep it friendly.
All right, sit down.
Because I'm here to tell you as a friend, lad, that you're going down for 10 or 12 years, at least.
Judges don't like men who mow down innocent bystanders, and we can put you in the bank with guns in your hands, make no mistake.
- Are you with me? - Yes, sir.
Right, so the only way to do yourself a bit of good is to answer my questions.
Why did you take guns with you tonight? - We didn't.
I've said before we didn't.
- Why not? Why should we? We didn't know we were gonna get shopped.
- Who shopped you, Price? - You tell me.
But I'd like five minutes with him, I tell you that.
Come on.
You must know who fixed up that house for you.
- It was laid on, that's all I know.
- Who by? Mr Crawford, blokes have wound up dead in prison before now.
For valuable information like that, we'd make sure you weren't got at.
Yeah? Can I make sure my wife and kid aren't got at? No, sorry.
Well, we've got a lot of time to talk about that.
Let's get back to the question of these guns you hid somewhere.
Look, guv, we weren't carrying shooters tonight, I swear to God.
Right, now let's try Wade.
Wade's a tougher character than Price, sir.
He's simply denying everything.
We'll question him just the same.
I want you to be completely satisfied about this question of firearms before we go any further.
We were sure they were armed, sir.
There were no guns concealed in the house and none were found outside.
The two men who were hiding upstairs, Wade and Price, they might have thrown their guns out of a window into some garden we haven't searched.
The officers on duty at the front and rear of the house are absolutely certain that no windows were opened and nothing thrown out.
- Well, perhaps before we got there.
- Why should they? - Stop clutching at straws, man.
- Yes, sir.
- Now, you didn't fire a shot.
- No, sir.
Tell me what you know about it.
Well, sir, I was searching for the main light switch.
I was working by feel mostly.
I thought the switches would be under the stairs, but they weren't.
I eventually found them in a cupboard for coats and things, but I didn't actually see anything.
- What did you hear? - Slight sounds of movement.
- In the kitchen, like a chair scraping.
- Did you investigate? No, sir.
Inspector Crawford had told me to get some lights on.
All right, go on.
Then there were other sounds, doors banging, people running, someone cried out and then shots.
- How many shots? - I'm not sure, sir.
They seemed to be almost simultaneous.
Three or four, I think.
Just then I found the light switch and put them on.
- What did you do then? - I decided to search the house.
There was no-one downstairs, no-one hiding in the bedrooms.
Then I found the bathroom door was locked.
That's when Inspector Crawford arrived.
He ordered them to come out.
Eventually they did.
Did they say anything? - Yes, sir.
- What? They claimed they were unarmed, sir.
- Yes? - Excuse me, sir.
I still haven't been able to contact PC Dewar's wife.
- Keep trying.
- Yes, sir.
All right, go on.
We're interrupting the programme to bring you another newsflash about the shooting which took place in Dock Green tonight.
It's believed that four armed policemen raided a house and a number of shots were fired.
It's now known that a man was taken to hospital and although his identity hasn't been disclosed, his condition is described as critical.
So far, though, there's been no police statement on the incident.
Our next scheduled news on Radio 2 is the midnight newsroom, but now back to some music and In The Mood.
In The Mood You fired one shot there.
By accident, sir.
You've no idea who this informant was? No, sir.
- You didn't recognise his voice? - No, sir, it was muffled.
So you took armed men on the strength of a phone call you couldn't check.
But he had the names, sir, Price, Wade and Kendrick.
And I sent a van.
They reported lights on in the house and a car outside.
Innocent citizens have been known to park cars outside houses, Crawford.
Innocent citizens would have opened the door.
That tip-off was dead right.
With one important exception.
They had no firearms.
That's what he said, sir.
"They've all got shooters.
" Here, I wrote it down as he was speaking.
Was there anyone in the office with you? - Yes, sir, DC Cox.
- Was he listening in? Well, no, sir.
He was on another phone, trying to get the call traced.
- You say the voice was muffled.
- Yes, it was.
Could you have misunderstood him in that case? Could he have said "They've got no shooters"? I misunderstood nothing, sir.
I heard him perfectly.
And I had no hesitation in believing him, sir, because these men had used guns before in a completely callous way.
Isn't it possible that you had that fact very much in the forefront of your mind, that you'd decided these men would be armed because they'd been armed before? That is precisely what the informant said, nothing more, nothing less.
Why are these words crossed out? Oh, I got the address wrong the first time, sir.
- I asked him to say it again.
- Why did you get it wrong? Well? He must have turned his head away from the phone.
- I couldn't hear him very well.
- You said you could hear perfectly.
About the guns, yes, I could.
Crawford, can you be 100% absolutely positive that you didn't make a mistake? Thought you might like some tea, Sergeant.
Thank you.
Good idea.
Where's Sergeant Hedges? He'll be back in a minute.
Just leave it there.
Oscar Delta from Sergeant 3-1 Message for you.
Over.
Oscar Delta to Sergeant 3-1.
Go ahead.
Over.
The lights have been dismantled.
The house is as secure as it can be.
The front door lock's not broken but it's faulty.
Do you want a couple of men left on observation? Over.
3-1, stand by.
Mrs Dewar.
- Ken.
- Katie.
- Ken, thank God you're all right.
- You shouldn't be here.
- What are you doing here? - The radio said someone had been shot.
- I was afraid it was you.
- No.
No, I'm all right.
- But you weren't home.
- I've got to stay here.
- Why? - There's an investigation.
I'm in trouble.
I shot a man tonight, probably killed him.
- You? Ken, no.
- Yes.
Dewar.
Drink your tea in the canteen.
Sergeant.
Stan, I'll be in the interview room.
And there's a query from 3-1 on the RT.
Right, George.
In here, please.
- Sit down, Mrs Dewar.
- No.
Sit down.
Oscar Delta to Sergeant 3-1.
Over.
I tried to phone you earlier to say Ken wouldn't be home.
It's my sister's birthday.
She was giving a party.
Ken was on duty, so I went on my own.
I heard about the shooting on the car radio.
They said a man's condition was critical but they didn't say who it was.
I thought it might be Ken.
- Why didn't you telephone? - I panicked, I suppose.
I remember how proud Ken was when he got his firearms authorisation.
He said there were very few men at this station who are allowed to use firearms and I thought, God, he'll have been there.
- I thought he might be hurt.
- Well, he's not.
- So you've nothing to worry about.
- Well, Ken said - He said what? - Will he be long? Couldn't I wait? Mrs Dewar, a very serious investigation is taking place.
Ken had no right to talk to you about it and if he did, I'm afraid I must ask you to tell me what it was.
It was private, Mr Dixon, between the two of us.
I'm sorry, Mrs Dewar, that won't do.
This is too important.
Now, tell me exactly what Ken said.
That he'd shot a man.
Where's Sergeant Dixon? - Interview room, sir.
I'm ready for you now, Sergeant Dixon.
Mrs Dewar's here, sir.
She heard about it on the radio.
- I think you'd better speak to her.
- Why? What does she know? - Well, her husband talked to her, sir.
- What - Who allowed that? - Well, I was here, sir, but I All right, I'll see you in a minute.
Lovely weather we're having for the time of the year.
Yes.
- How was Mary? - Fine.
Not too surprised that you wouldn't be home.
Well, she might get a surprise she won't like, the way Donovan's carrying on.
There's no need to worry, Mrs Dewar.
Your husband would have told me himself in due course.
He spoke of being in trouble, but if guns were issued, I mean, that's not Ken's decision.
Well, we haven't got the full picture yet, Mrs Dewar.
I must ask you not to discuss this with anyone, of course.
- When will Ken be home? - Later.
That's all I can say.
Young Dewar's going to learn just what I think of him.
And why was she permitted to speak to him, Sergeant? Well, I was on the radio, sir.
Sergeant Hedges was checking the cells.
I saw her come in, but by the time I'd dealt with the message and told them to stand by They'd had a cosy chat.
Now, let me tell you again, Sergeant.
The men concerned are only to speak to me about it, and that includes you.
Yes, sir.
Inspector Crawford requested the assistance of the two uniformed men.
You agreed and authorised the issue of firearms.
And don't tell me you checked with your chief super.
He relies on your advice.
Just as I relied on Inspector Crawford, sir.
It didn't worry you that it was an anonymous informant? Yes, sir, but the information contained detail and sounded good.
Sergeant, who shot Kendrick is only one of the questions we have to answer.
- Remind me to phone the hospital again.
- Yes, sir.
Equally important is why firearms were issued at all.
We're not an armed police force.
God forbid we ever become one.
If arms are issued at random on the slightest pretext, we might as well all strap guns on and be done with it.
Arms were not issued at random, sir.
They were issued after assessing the value of information received.
That information proved to be incorrect, Sergeant.
That makes Inspector Crawford wrong and it makes you wrong.
Only if the information was incorrect, sir.
We've proved that beyond doubt.
Price, Wade and Kendrick were not armed.
Looking back, don't you think you ought to have taken more time to consider, insisted on further checks? - No, sir.
- Why not? We had a tip-off about three men known to be dangerous, known to have used guns.
If we had to catch them, we had to move fast.
It was urgent, sir.
Hm.
Was Inspector Crawford's manner urgent? Well, yes, it was, naturally.
You accepted Inspector Crawford's version of this anonymous phone call? Yes, sir.
Despite the fact that you had no way of knowing whether it was accurate? I trust Inspector Crawford implicitly, sir.
Sergeant, anyone can make mistakes, even Inspector Crawford.
Do you realise what the press'll make of this? We're all on trial here as surely as if we were facing a judge and a prosecuting counsel.
Oscar Delta from Panda 3.
Message for you.
Over.
Panda 3, go ahead.
Over.
- Ah, Andy.
- Hang on, George.
Cigarettes.
- You don't smoke.
- Cox has run out.
- I said I'd get him some.
- The shops'll be shut now.
He can buy some in the canteen.
Look, I shan't be long.
You're under orders not to leave the station.
Donovan's finished with me for the time being.
Andy, forget it.
You're not going anywhere.
I want a word.
In private.
Look, there's something I've got to do.
- It'll have to wait.
- It won't wait.
Look, Andy, don't be a fool.
We're under direct orders not to leave the station.
It's pretty obvious now the approach Donovan's taking.
- That's something we can't discuss.
- I don't give a damn about that.
Just listen to me.
He's going to start right at the beginning with that phone call.
Now, whoever it was said, "They've all got shooters.
" I know they did.
Now, it's a 100 to one shot, but I might be able to prove it, if I can get outside.
- How? - Just forget you saw me.
But, Andy, what do you want to do? Make sure you're in the clear? To some extent, yes, but there's something else, something much more important.
Now, I didn't shoot Kendrick, at least I don't think I did.
But whoever it was, me, Wills, Dewar, if we can show that information was right, at least it's some justification for firing.
At least it'll prove we had good reason for believing he was armed.
- Yes, that's true.
- Right.
So ask Mr Donovan's permission.
And risk him saying no? I'd rather take a chance.
If you leave this station, sir, you leave me no choice.
Brewer's still here.
Shall I find him? All right.
I'm sorry, Andy.
Yes.
Well, sir, we knew Inspector Crawford and DC Cox were in the house.
We heard the front door being forced.
But after that there was no sound, nothing at all.
- How long for? - It seemed like forever, sir.
- A few minutes, I suppose.
- Go on.
Then there was a lot of noise and the back door burst open, here, sir, and Kendrick came running out.
- You said it was very dark.
- It was, sir.
- Did you recognise Kendrick? - Well, no, sir, not then.
Then don't say you did, man.
Tell me what you knew, not what you've learned since.
Yes, sir.
Sorry, sir.
All right, go back and start again.
Come on, wake yourself up.
Sorry, Andy.
Must have dozed off in the canteen.
Now, they'd want a secure house for the payout.
I don't think they'd risk using one owned by someone known to the police.
- Are you with me? - Yeah, yeah.
Right.
The odds are it was rented or borrowed from perfectly innocent people.
I want you to try and trace who fixed it up.
Now, forget it's the middle of the night.
Now, go out and follow your nose.
Drag anybody out of bed that you have to.
Understood? Yeah, I got it.
Now, Mike, you haven't got much time.
All right.
I'll get my skates on.
Then the back door burst open and the figure of a man came running out.
There, sir.
Inspector Crawford followed him.
At least, I assumed it was Mr Crawford.
- All right, go on.
- What I thought happened, sir? - How it seemed to you, yes.
- There was a loud crash, a gunshot.
Inspector Crawford collapsed and fell, about there, I should say, sir.
And as he did so, he cried out.
You see, sir, I thought that the other man had shot Mr Crawford.
Yes, yes, go on.
I opened fire on the other man as he ran and shot him, sir.
But we now know that nobody shot at Inspector Crawford, don't we? Yes, sir.
Did you warn Kendrick that you were armed and intended to fire? - No, sir.
- Why not? I heard Mr Crawford shout a warning, sir.
So you shot him without issuing a warning? Yes, sir.
To your knowledge, did Sergeant Wills also fire? He must have done, sir.
I only fired once, but there were several shots.
- How many? - It's hard to say for certain, sir.
It all happened so fast.
- How many do you think? - I really can't say, sir.
Four, perhaps.
Would it surprise you to know that Detective Inspector Crawford also fired? - Yes, sir.
- Well, he did.
Now, let's go over your account again.
Now, are you sure about these relative positions, Wills? They're not to scale, of course, but that's exactly where I was when I shot Kendrick.
- I see.
You shot Kendrick? - Yes, sir.
Hm.
This is going to take even longer than I imagined.
- Sir? - Did you issue a warning? Well, no, sir.
At the time I thought he'd shot Mr Crawford.
I didn't see he had any warning coming to him.
I see.
All right.
- Sir? - Well, start at the beginning, Wills.
Give me your version.
All right, all right, I'm coming.
I said I'm coming.
- Who is it? - Mr Green? Yeah.
Who are you? Police.
Look, what is this? Do you know what time it is? During the last two hours I've knocked up householders and dragged law-abiding estate agents out of bed all to find you.
So if you were asleep, I'm sorry, but that's just too bad.
Well, what do you want with me? What connection do you have with number 8 Leonard Terrace, Mr Green? - 8 Leonard Terrace? - You heard me.
Why? Aren't you temporarily responsible for it, Mr Green? I'd like to know why that's got anything to do with the police.
Three men were arrested there tonight.
- Three? - Price, Wade and Kendrick.
- Ever met them? - No, never.
You say they've been arrested? They've been detained? That's what I said.
Why were they arrested? We've been anxious to talk to them for some time.
What about? You've got it the wrong way round, Mr Green.
I'll do the questioning.
Is it for the Wembley bank job? I've got to be sure you're not gonna let them go.
Let them go? They're not going anywhere for the next ten years.
Oh, good.
Since you're here, you can be a witness.
Witness? Witness to what? That this is in my possession.
Don't hang up.
Tell me who you are, where I can get hold of you.
Let's hear that bit again.
Kelly.
No, Kendrick.
CRAWFORD; Oh, Kendrick.
And watch it, cos they've all got shooters.
Are you sure? They've all got shooters.
I'll be in touch after you've got 'em.
Don't hang up.
Right.
OK.
Your profession, Mr Green? Well, I'm a sort of general dealer.
And you deal in harbouring wanted men? No, no, nothing like that, sir.
A fella approached me, you see, said he wanted a house for tonight, nothing conspicuous, just ordinary.
He said tonight was special but to rent it for two weeks.
- Who was this fella? - I'd never seen him before, sir.
Said his name was Jones.
But I wouldn't know where to find him.
We always met in pubs.
All right, go on.
Well, I began to think it was a bit funny.
I mean, he give me a couple of hundred quid.
That house only costs 40 quid for the fortnight, furnished and all.
But he didn't want any money back.
He just laughed and said keep the rest for me trouble.
Then the next time he'd been drinking.
In fact, he was smashed.
He let some names drop.
Then I realised what was on.
- Why didn't you inform the police? - Well, I did, didn't I, sir? You see, I drove by number 8 tonight to make sure there were some lights on.
When I saw someone had turned up, I phoned you.
- Anonymously.
- Well, I was taking a hell of a chance.
I mean, if something had gone wrong, if you hadn't nailed 'em, that lot, cor, didn't want my name written down anywhere, I tell you.
But I had to have a record for the bank, sol put one of them machines on my phone.
Mm-hm.
The bank? Well, I mean, the reward.
They're offering 15 grand for information leading to the arrest of them villains.
Mm.
Your Mr Jones may put two and two together, of course, and tell some friends of his.
Yeah, I thought of that and I nearly didn't It's a lot of money, after all.
Sol got me arrangements made, staying with a mate of mine in Glasgow.
Once I'm paid, a man can get a long way away on 15,000 quid.
Why were you so positive that the three men would be armed? Well, they had to be, didn't they? They used guns when they hit that bank.
It followed.
Brewer, take a statement from this man, but don't let him go.
- We haven't finished with him yet.
- Yes, sir.
Excuse me, sir.
The bank will pay me, won't they? I mean, I did give you the tip-off.
And I've got evidence to prove it.
That's between you and the bank.
What's the holdup? Do you know? No idea.
Mr Donovan said he was on his way.
Well, that was nearly an hour ago.
I wish he'd hurry up and get it over with.
- It's dawn.
- Another new day.
I've known better.
All right, sit down.
Well, first of all, it is now clear that firearms were properly issued on the basis of the information available.
The question of their use is another matter.
Now, this is probably what happened.
Kendrick ran out from the veranda, followed almost immediately by Inspector Crawford.
Mr Crawford fell over some rubbish and dustbins, cutting himself on some wire.
As he fell, he involuntarily fired.
He was also hurt and not unnaturally let out a cry of pain.
Now, Wills and Dewar assumed that Kendrick had shot at Mr Crawford and wounded him and both fired.
Only three shots were fired, not four, but since Mr Crawford's fall presumably made one hell of a noise, well, the confusion is understandable.
The next question is whose bullet hit Kendrick? - We know that, sir.
- I'm not sure that we do.
Inspector Crawford, yours? I don't think so, sir, unless it was a ricochet.
Let's say it's improbable.
Dewar, you believe you shot Kendrick.
- I know I did, sir.
I think not.
You were here, Dewar.
Kendrick was here en route to the gate.
I don't see how you could have put a bullet near his heart from that angle.
Now, I suggest that Sergeant Wills was the marksman.
Confirmation of that will have to await a report from Ballistics, of course.
Yes, sir.
A remarkably accurate piece of shooting to hit a running man on a dark night.
There's one more thing.
The operation was not successful.
Kendrick is dead.
All right, you can all go home now.
The four men who went out that night had every reason to believe that they were going to deal with armed and dangerous men.
Later, the report from Ballistics confirmed that Sergeant Wills had shot Kendrick.
An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide.
I think I'd have done the same as Dewar and Wills in those circumstances.
Good night, all.
One afternoon at 2.
55pm, three men walked into a bank in North London.
All the men were armed with revolvers.
The bank manager coming back from a late lunch realised what was happening and ran back into the street shouting for help.
The three men opened fire.
The bank manager was badly wounded, as were two passers-by, a woman and a child.
The men escaped with £80,000 in new £5 notes.
From the descriptions given, the police were anxious to question three men with previous convictions for violence called Price, Wade and Kendrick.
But they went to ground.
No-one knew where they were.
Yes.
8 Brennen Terrace.
Oh, Leonard Terrace.
You'll have to speak up.
Payout? What payout? There's a call on the other line.
We want it traced.
How do I know this is on the up and up? Who? I can't hear you very well.
Price.
Wade.
Kelly.
Oh, Kendrick.
Are you sure? Don't hang up.
Tell me who you are, where I can get hold of you.
Nothing yet, sir.
All right, I'll take your line.
You get a nondescript van round to this address.
I don't want them to do anything, just report if there's any sign of life.
- Tell 'em to make it quick.
- Right, sir.
Divisional headquarters.
I'm sorry, sir.
If you've shut yourself out, you'll have to get a locksmith.
Yeah.
Well, I should try the Yellow Pages, sir.
- George.
- Yeah.
Yes.
Well, I'm very sorry, sir.
Right, thank you.
Bye.
- I want firearms issued, four.
38s.
- What's happened? A phone call from an anonymous informant saying the men who pulled the North London bank job - Can you trust an anonymous informant? - He knew what he was talking about.
And he gave the names of three good blaggers, Price, Wade and Kendrick.
A Q-car's been round there and they report there are lights on in the house and a car outside.
My governor at Division has authorised the issue of arms to myself and DC Cox, but I shall need two armed uniformed men as well who are authorised shots.
Sergeant Wills, he's an expert shot, and PC Dewar, he's authorised.
- Fetch them in off the beat fast.
- Right.
- I'll have to check with my governor.
- Make it quick.
- Sir.
- Chief Superintendent Masters, please.
I don't want those villains disappearing.
Andy, did you trace that phone call? No, he rang off too soon.
It's Sergeant Dixon here, sir.
Inspector Crawford has asked for the issue of firearms, sir.
What I don't quite follow is why they have to meet to share out the money.
They drove away from that bank with 80 grand in their possession.
Yes, but all in new fivers.
The odds are there was an organiser behind it and he wouldn't take a chance on new notes.
That cash will be exchanged by now for safe money and the meet is probably on tonight.
- You done this sort of thing before? - Not for real, sir.
Only on the course.
This is different.
Take it easy.
Watch what you're doing.
Don't make a target of yourself.
Men who'd spray bullets across a crowded pavement aren't likely to have any scruples about putting one into you, all right? Yeah, great.
Understood, sir.
Right.
Inspector Crawford, 29791.
Sergeant Wills, 50723.
PC Dewar, 28723.
And DC COX, 59724.
Right.
I have to warn you all that these weapons are only to be used in case of absolute necessity.
You may only resort to firearms as a means of defence if, for example, you or anyone you are protecting should be attacked by some person using a firearm or other deadly weapon and there is no other way in which you can reasonably protect yourself or give protection.
Understood? Right, good luck.
Johnny, these places have got back gardens.
I know, reached by an alleyway.
You and Dewar are in the back garden, two other men in the side road, two more men in the front with us.
And don't use your torches.
That's asking to get shot.
Get a man to give me the nod as soon as you're in position.
Right.
All right, lads.
Here's what we want.
Dewar, you come with me covering the back garden.
You two, side alley.
You go with Inspector Crawford in the front.
There's two cars outside now, sir.
Hm.
The one with the money's probably arrived.
- Should be there now, sir.
- Hm.
We're going in.
What now? Don't move.
Wait till your eyes become adjusted to the darkness.
Try and find the light switch.
It's not working.
It's turned off at the main.
See if you can find the main switch.
Stop! I'm a police officer! Ooh! Andy! Hell and damnation! - You all right? - Yes, yes, I'm all right.
Sir! See to that one.
- Are you all right, sir? - Yeah, I'm OK.
Where are they? Come on.
We're police officers.
Come on out of there.
I'll give you fair warning, we're armed, and we've got men front and back.
Come out of there before I shoot the lock off.
Out! Face the wall.
Hands above your heads.
- Find their guns.
- We're not armed.
Shut up! One man wounded, it is thought seriously.
Ambulance required at once.
Over.
Message received.
Tell Inspector Crawford that Chief Superintendent Smith has asked to be informed of developments.
Over.
Sergeant 4-6.
Roger.
Anything? He must have dropped his gun somewhere.
Let's find it.
As far as I can gather, sir, shots were exchanged and one of the villains was wounded.
Yes, the ambulance is on its way, sir.
Yep.
Right, sir.
I'll tell him.
Anything doing, then? If not, I'll push off home.
You'd better stay put.
- Oscar Delta to Sergeant 4-6.
Over.
- Sergeant 4-6.
Over.
Tell Andy his boss'll be there in a few minutes.
Over.
OK, George.
What's all the excitement, then? What's this? Bullet nicked you? - No, sir.
Cut it on some wire.
- OK! We've recovered their share of the money, sir.
- Found it in one of the bedrooms.
- Good.
Let's go in the house.
Oh, Cox.
What have you done with the other two? - Sent them back to the station, sir.
- Well, put me in the picture.
Right, turn out your pockets.
What happened to Alec? Alec Kendrick.
There was shooting.
Where is he? We'll ask the questions.
- You're wanted on the radio, sarge.
- Right.
Did Alec have a gun? - What was that? - Nothing.
- Have you searched the house? - The obviously places, sir.
- Lifted the floorboards? - No, sir.
Well, let's have a thorough search.
Floorboards, any loose bricks in the walls, everything.
- Right, sir.
- Right, now, what about their car? - We've searched them, sir.
Nothing.
- Well, this garden's pretty overgrown.
Get some lights.
Then we can see what we're doing.
Yes, sir.
Lighting equipment required at once.
Understood.
If Brewer's there, tell him to have a go at those villains, see if he can find out where they hid those guns.
Right, Andy.
Will do.
- Cigarette? - Yeah.
Sit down, then.
- Had some tea? - Yeah.
- Want anything to eat? - No.
- What did you do with the guns, then? - What guns? Now, don't mess me about, chum.
You're going down for armed robbery and attempted murder for that Wembley blag, so don't kid yourself.
You met for the payoff and you were carrying shooters.
- No.
- You must have stashed them somewhere.
- We weren't carrying guns.
- Don't give me that.
We weren't carrying shooters tonight, I swear it.
- Cigarette? - No.
I don't smoke.
- Sir.
- Have you found something? All right, George.
But tell him to keep trying.
Roger.
- Sir.
- Hm? Both men deny being armed tonight, sir.
If four armed coppers went after three unarmed men and shot one of them They're lying- I've just been informed that a television film crew's on the way.
That's all we need.
How the devil did they get onto it? Somebody must have heard the shots, seen all the activity and made a phone call.
Yes.
All right, lads, move it along a bit.
- Sir.
- Yeah? The commander's arrived.
And Detective Chief Superintendent Donovan from A10 is with him.
I wish I were on leave.
Evening, sir.
- Any luck? - No, Sergeant.
Right.
All right, lads, you'd better try next door, front and back, and make it thorough.
- Good evening, Crawford.
- Evening, sir.
Well? They're searching the nearby gardens now in case the weapons were thrown some distance.
You pray to the Almighty that you find those guns, Crawford, or at least one.
Well, apart from those two, we've got two drunk and disorderlies in the cells and a vagrant.
- Right, George.
- Right.
Dixon, hold on a minute.
Sergeant Hedges, tag these weapons.
Inspector Crawford, Sergeant Wills, DC Cox, PC Dewar.
- Then deliver them to me at once.
- Sir.
You four go and have a meal.
You've got 30 minutes.
Inspector, no-one will discuss tonight's events.
Right, sir.
I know Crawford and Wills are married.
How about Dewar and Cox? Well, Dewar's married as well, sir, but Cox single.
He lives in the section house.
Phone the three wives and tell them their husbands won't be home until late, possibly not till morning.
Say they're engaged on an extended investigation.
Yes, sir.
Did you authorise the issue of firearms? I did, sir, yes.
I shall want to interview you as well.
You'll have to hang on too.
Very good, sir.
Hedges, that also applies to Inspector Crawford, Sergeant Wills, Cox and Dewar.
They will not leave the station.
Understood? - Yes, sir.
- Right.
Mary? Hello.
All right? And the kids? Yeah.
Yes, I'm fine, but Well, no, it's about Andy.
Yes, the usual, I'm afraid.
Yes, possibly not until the morning.
No, there's nothing to worry about.
He's involved in a lengthy investigation and he's got to stay on.
Yeah.
Yes, I know.
No, I don't think he'll be able to ring you tonight, love, no, no.
He's pretty busy.
Yeah.
OK.
Right.
Not to worry.
Night-night.
See you soon.
All right, sit down.
The man who was shot was Kendrick.
I've just spoken to the hospital.
He was hit by one bullet which is lodged close to his heart.
He is at this moment undergoing an emergency operation.
We may well be faced with a situation where an unarmed man was shot down and killed by armed police officers.
If he does die, it'll be up to a coroner's jury to establish whether it was a lawful or justifiable homicide or whether it was not.
Now, even if they do manage to save his life, one question still has to be answered.
Why was this man gunned down when he presented no danger to anyone and when there were several police officers present who could have arrested him without using excessive violence? With respect, that's using hindsight.
It was all over in a few seconds.
When this incident is read about in the newspapers and discussed on television, everyone will be using hindsight, Inspector.
The commander didn't turn up because he felt like a outing.
He has been in touch with the assistant commissioner.
I am to conduct a full investigation and establish exactly what took place.
Scotland Yard is under pressure from the news media.
The commissioner wants a full report from me by first thing in the morning.
The public are rightly sensitive about the use of firearms by police officers.
They're entitled to be assured that any misuse will be fully investigated.
Wills, I want you to sketch the back garden and indicate the position of those concerned.
- Inspector, you come with me.
- Right, sir.
Cox, wait for me in Inspector Crawford's office.
- Yes, sir.
- Let me emphasise again.
Until this investigation is concluded, none of you will discuss tonight's events with any of the others unless I'm present.
- Is that clear? - Yes, sir.
- Well, get on with it, Wills.
- Yes, sir.
You know me, Price.
- Yeah.
- Sir.
- Yes, sir.
- That's better.
Let's keep it friendly.
All right, sit down.
Because I'm here to tell you as a friend, lad, that you're going down for 10 or 12 years, at least.
Judges don't like men who mow down innocent bystanders, and we can put you in the bank with guns in your hands, make no mistake.
- Are you with me? - Yes, sir.
Right, so the only way to do yourself a bit of good is to answer my questions.
Why did you take guns with you tonight? - We didn't.
I've said before we didn't.
- Why not? Why should we? We didn't know we were gonna get shopped.
- Who shopped you, Price? - You tell me.
But I'd like five minutes with him, I tell you that.
Come on.
You must know who fixed up that house for you.
- It was laid on, that's all I know.
- Who by? Mr Crawford, blokes have wound up dead in prison before now.
For valuable information like that, we'd make sure you weren't got at.
Yeah? Can I make sure my wife and kid aren't got at? No, sorry.
Well, we've got a lot of time to talk about that.
Let's get back to the question of these guns you hid somewhere.
Look, guv, we weren't carrying shooters tonight, I swear to God.
Right, now let's try Wade.
Wade's a tougher character than Price, sir.
He's simply denying everything.
We'll question him just the same.
I want you to be completely satisfied about this question of firearms before we go any further.
We were sure they were armed, sir.
There were no guns concealed in the house and none were found outside.
The two men who were hiding upstairs, Wade and Price, they might have thrown their guns out of a window into some garden we haven't searched.
The officers on duty at the front and rear of the house are absolutely certain that no windows were opened and nothing thrown out.
- Well, perhaps before we got there.
- Why should they? - Stop clutching at straws, man.
- Yes, sir.
- Now, you didn't fire a shot.
- No, sir.
Tell me what you know about it.
Well, sir, I was searching for the main light switch.
I was working by feel mostly.
I thought the switches would be under the stairs, but they weren't.
I eventually found them in a cupboard for coats and things, but I didn't actually see anything.
- What did you hear? - Slight sounds of movement.
- In the kitchen, like a chair scraping.
- Did you investigate? No, sir.
Inspector Crawford had told me to get some lights on.
All right, go on.
Then there were other sounds, doors banging, people running, someone cried out and then shots.
- How many shots? - I'm not sure, sir.
They seemed to be almost simultaneous.
Three or four, I think.
Just then I found the light switch and put them on.
- What did you do then? - I decided to search the house.
There was no-one downstairs, no-one hiding in the bedrooms.
Then I found the bathroom door was locked.
That's when Inspector Crawford arrived.
He ordered them to come out.
Eventually they did.
Did they say anything? - Yes, sir.
- What? They claimed they were unarmed, sir.
- Yes? - Excuse me, sir.
I still haven't been able to contact PC Dewar's wife.
- Keep trying.
- Yes, sir.
All right, go on.
We're interrupting the programme to bring you another newsflash about the shooting which took place in Dock Green tonight.
It's believed that four armed policemen raided a house and a number of shots were fired.
It's now known that a man was taken to hospital and although his identity hasn't been disclosed, his condition is described as critical.
So far, though, there's been no police statement on the incident.
Our next scheduled news on Radio 2 is the midnight newsroom, but now back to some music and In The Mood.
In The Mood You fired one shot there.
By accident, sir.
You've no idea who this informant was? No, sir.
- You didn't recognise his voice? - No, sir, it was muffled.
So you took armed men on the strength of a phone call you couldn't check.
But he had the names, sir, Price, Wade and Kendrick.
And I sent a van.
They reported lights on in the house and a car outside.
Innocent citizens have been known to park cars outside houses, Crawford.
Innocent citizens would have opened the door.
That tip-off was dead right.
With one important exception.
They had no firearms.
That's what he said, sir.
"They've all got shooters.
" Here, I wrote it down as he was speaking.
Was there anyone in the office with you? - Yes, sir, DC Cox.
- Was he listening in? Well, no, sir.
He was on another phone, trying to get the call traced.
- You say the voice was muffled.
- Yes, it was.
Could you have misunderstood him in that case? Could he have said "They've got no shooters"? I misunderstood nothing, sir.
I heard him perfectly.
And I had no hesitation in believing him, sir, because these men had used guns before in a completely callous way.
Isn't it possible that you had that fact very much in the forefront of your mind, that you'd decided these men would be armed because they'd been armed before? That is precisely what the informant said, nothing more, nothing less.
Why are these words crossed out? Oh, I got the address wrong the first time, sir.
- I asked him to say it again.
- Why did you get it wrong? Well? He must have turned his head away from the phone.
- I couldn't hear him very well.
- You said you could hear perfectly.
About the guns, yes, I could.
Crawford, can you be 100% absolutely positive that you didn't make a mistake? Thought you might like some tea, Sergeant.
Thank you.
Good idea.
Where's Sergeant Hedges? He'll be back in a minute.
Just leave it there.
Oscar Delta from Sergeant 3-1 Message for you.
Over.
Oscar Delta to Sergeant 3-1.
Go ahead.
Over.
The lights have been dismantled.
The house is as secure as it can be.
The front door lock's not broken but it's faulty.
Do you want a couple of men left on observation? Over.
3-1, stand by.
Mrs Dewar.
- Ken.
- Katie.
- Ken, thank God you're all right.
- You shouldn't be here.
- What are you doing here? - The radio said someone had been shot.
- I was afraid it was you.
- No.
No, I'm all right.
- But you weren't home.
- I've got to stay here.
- Why? - There's an investigation.
I'm in trouble.
I shot a man tonight, probably killed him.
- You? Ken, no.
- Yes.
Dewar.
Drink your tea in the canteen.
Sergeant.
Stan, I'll be in the interview room.
And there's a query from 3-1 on the RT.
Right, George.
In here, please.
- Sit down, Mrs Dewar.
- No.
Sit down.
Oscar Delta to Sergeant 3-1.
Over.
I tried to phone you earlier to say Ken wouldn't be home.
It's my sister's birthday.
She was giving a party.
Ken was on duty, so I went on my own.
I heard about the shooting on the car radio.
They said a man's condition was critical but they didn't say who it was.
I thought it might be Ken.
- Why didn't you telephone? - I panicked, I suppose.
I remember how proud Ken was when he got his firearms authorisation.
He said there were very few men at this station who are allowed to use firearms and I thought, God, he'll have been there.
- I thought he might be hurt.
- Well, he's not.
- So you've nothing to worry about.
- Well, Ken said - He said what? - Will he be long? Couldn't I wait? Mrs Dewar, a very serious investigation is taking place.
Ken had no right to talk to you about it and if he did, I'm afraid I must ask you to tell me what it was.
It was private, Mr Dixon, between the two of us.
I'm sorry, Mrs Dewar, that won't do.
This is too important.
Now, tell me exactly what Ken said.
That he'd shot a man.
Where's Sergeant Dixon? - Interview room, sir.
I'm ready for you now, Sergeant Dixon.
Mrs Dewar's here, sir.
She heard about it on the radio.
- I think you'd better speak to her.
- Why? What does she know? - Well, her husband talked to her, sir.
- What - Who allowed that? - Well, I was here, sir, but I All right, I'll see you in a minute.
Lovely weather we're having for the time of the year.
Yes.
- How was Mary? - Fine.
Not too surprised that you wouldn't be home.
Well, she might get a surprise she won't like, the way Donovan's carrying on.
There's no need to worry, Mrs Dewar.
Your husband would have told me himself in due course.
He spoke of being in trouble, but if guns were issued, I mean, that's not Ken's decision.
Well, we haven't got the full picture yet, Mrs Dewar.
I must ask you not to discuss this with anyone, of course.
- When will Ken be home? - Later.
That's all I can say.
Young Dewar's going to learn just what I think of him.
And why was she permitted to speak to him, Sergeant? Well, I was on the radio, sir.
Sergeant Hedges was checking the cells.
I saw her come in, but by the time I'd dealt with the message and told them to stand by They'd had a cosy chat.
Now, let me tell you again, Sergeant.
The men concerned are only to speak to me about it, and that includes you.
Yes, sir.
Inspector Crawford requested the assistance of the two uniformed men.
You agreed and authorised the issue of firearms.
And don't tell me you checked with your chief super.
He relies on your advice.
Just as I relied on Inspector Crawford, sir.
It didn't worry you that it was an anonymous informant? Yes, sir, but the information contained detail and sounded good.
Sergeant, who shot Kendrick is only one of the questions we have to answer.
- Remind me to phone the hospital again.
- Yes, sir.
Equally important is why firearms were issued at all.
We're not an armed police force.
God forbid we ever become one.
If arms are issued at random on the slightest pretext, we might as well all strap guns on and be done with it.
Arms were not issued at random, sir.
They were issued after assessing the value of information received.
That information proved to be incorrect, Sergeant.
That makes Inspector Crawford wrong and it makes you wrong.
Only if the information was incorrect, sir.
We've proved that beyond doubt.
Price, Wade and Kendrick were not armed.
Looking back, don't you think you ought to have taken more time to consider, insisted on further checks? - No, sir.
- Why not? We had a tip-off about three men known to be dangerous, known to have used guns.
If we had to catch them, we had to move fast.
It was urgent, sir.
Hm.
Was Inspector Crawford's manner urgent? Well, yes, it was, naturally.
You accepted Inspector Crawford's version of this anonymous phone call? Yes, sir.
Despite the fact that you had no way of knowing whether it was accurate? I trust Inspector Crawford implicitly, sir.
Sergeant, anyone can make mistakes, even Inspector Crawford.
Do you realise what the press'll make of this? We're all on trial here as surely as if we were facing a judge and a prosecuting counsel.
Oscar Delta from Panda 3.
Message for you.
Over.
Panda 3, go ahead.
Over.
- Ah, Andy.
- Hang on, George.
Cigarettes.
- You don't smoke.
- Cox has run out.
- I said I'd get him some.
- The shops'll be shut now.
He can buy some in the canteen.
Look, I shan't be long.
You're under orders not to leave the station.
Donovan's finished with me for the time being.
Andy, forget it.
You're not going anywhere.
I want a word.
In private.
Look, there's something I've got to do.
- It'll have to wait.
- It won't wait.
Look, Andy, don't be a fool.
We're under direct orders not to leave the station.
It's pretty obvious now the approach Donovan's taking.
- That's something we can't discuss.
- I don't give a damn about that.
Just listen to me.
He's going to start right at the beginning with that phone call.
Now, whoever it was said, "They've all got shooters.
" I know they did.
Now, it's a 100 to one shot, but I might be able to prove it, if I can get outside.
- How? - Just forget you saw me.
But, Andy, what do you want to do? Make sure you're in the clear? To some extent, yes, but there's something else, something much more important.
Now, I didn't shoot Kendrick, at least I don't think I did.
But whoever it was, me, Wills, Dewar, if we can show that information was right, at least it's some justification for firing.
At least it'll prove we had good reason for believing he was armed.
- Yes, that's true.
- Right.
So ask Mr Donovan's permission.
And risk him saying no? I'd rather take a chance.
If you leave this station, sir, you leave me no choice.
Brewer's still here.
Shall I find him? All right.
I'm sorry, Andy.
Yes.
Well, sir, we knew Inspector Crawford and DC Cox were in the house.
We heard the front door being forced.
But after that there was no sound, nothing at all.
- How long for? - It seemed like forever, sir.
- A few minutes, I suppose.
- Go on.
Then there was a lot of noise and the back door burst open, here, sir, and Kendrick came running out.
- You said it was very dark.
- It was, sir.
- Did you recognise Kendrick? - Well, no, sir, not then.
Then don't say you did, man.
Tell me what you knew, not what you've learned since.
Yes, sir.
Sorry, sir.
All right, go back and start again.
Come on, wake yourself up.
Sorry, Andy.
Must have dozed off in the canteen.
Now, they'd want a secure house for the payout.
I don't think they'd risk using one owned by someone known to the police.
- Are you with me? - Yeah, yeah.
Right.
The odds are it was rented or borrowed from perfectly innocent people.
I want you to try and trace who fixed it up.
Now, forget it's the middle of the night.
Now, go out and follow your nose.
Drag anybody out of bed that you have to.
Understood? Yeah, I got it.
Now, Mike, you haven't got much time.
All right.
I'll get my skates on.
Then the back door burst open and the figure of a man came running out.
There, sir.
Inspector Crawford followed him.
At least, I assumed it was Mr Crawford.
- All right, go on.
- What I thought happened, sir? - How it seemed to you, yes.
- There was a loud crash, a gunshot.
Inspector Crawford collapsed and fell, about there, I should say, sir.
And as he did so, he cried out.
You see, sir, I thought that the other man had shot Mr Crawford.
Yes, yes, go on.
I opened fire on the other man as he ran and shot him, sir.
But we now know that nobody shot at Inspector Crawford, don't we? Yes, sir.
Did you warn Kendrick that you were armed and intended to fire? - No, sir.
- Why not? I heard Mr Crawford shout a warning, sir.
So you shot him without issuing a warning? Yes, sir.
To your knowledge, did Sergeant Wills also fire? He must have done, sir.
I only fired once, but there were several shots.
- How many? - It's hard to say for certain, sir.
It all happened so fast.
- How many do you think? - I really can't say, sir.
Four, perhaps.
Would it surprise you to know that Detective Inspector Crawford also fired? - Yes, sir.
- Well, he did.
Now, let's go over your account again.
Now, are you sure about these relative positions, Wills? They're not to scale, of course, but that's exactly where I was when I shot Kendrick.
- I see.
You shot Kendrick? - Yes, sir.
Hm.
This is going to take even longer than I imagined.
- Sir? - Did you issue a warning? Well, no, sir.
At the time I thought he'd shot Mr Crawford.
I didn't see he had any warning coming to him.
I see.
All right.
- Sir? - Well, start at the beginning, Wills.
Give me your version.
All right, all right, I'm coming.
I said I'm coming.
- Who is it? - Mr Green? Yeah.
Who are you? Police.
Look, what is this? Do you know what time it is? During the last two hours I've knocked up householders and dragged law-abiding estate agents out of bed all to find you.
So if you were asleep, I'm sorry, but that's just too bad.
Well, what do you want with me? What connection do you have with number 8 Leonard Terrace, Mr Green? - 8 Leonard Terrace? - You heard me.
Why? Aren't you temporarily responsible for it, Mr Green? I'd like to know why that's got anything to do with the police.
Three men were arrested there tonight.
- Three? - Price, Wade and Kendrick.
- Ever met them? - No, never.
You say they've been arrested? They've been detained? That's what I said.
Why were they arrested? We've been anxious to talk to them for some time.
What about? You've got it the wrong way round, Mr Green.
I'll do the questioning.
Is it for the Wembley bank job? I've got to be sure you're not gonna let them go.
Let them go? They're not going anywhere for the next ten years.
Oh, good.
Since you're here, you can be a witness.
Witness? Witness to what? That this is in my possession.
Don't hang up.
Tell me who you are, where I can get hold of you.
Let's hear that bit again.
Kelly.
No, Kendrick.
CRAWFORD; Oh, Kendrick.
And watch it, cos they've all got shooters.
Are you sure? They've all got shooters.
I'll be in touch after you've got 'em.
Don't hang up.
Right.
OK.
Your profession, Mr Green? Well, I'm a sort of general dealer.
And you deal in harbouring wanted men? No, no, nothing like that, sir.
A fella approached me, you see, said he wanted a house for tonight, nothing conspicuous, just ordinary.
He said tonight was special but to rent it for two weeks.
- Who was this fella? - I'd never seen him before, sir.
Said his name was Jones.
But I wouldn't know where to find him.
We always met in pubs.
All right, go on.
Well, I began to think it was a bit funny.
I mean, he give me a couple of hundred quid.
That house only costs 40 quid for the fortnight, furnished and all.
But he didn't want any money back.
He just laughed and said keep the rest for me trouble.
Then the next time he'd been drinking.
In fact, he was smashed.
He let some names drop.
Then I realised what was on.
- Why didn't you inform the police? - Well, I did, didn't I, sir? You see, I drove by number 8 tonight to make sure there were some lights on.
When I saw someone had turned up, I phoned you.
- Anonymously.
- Well, I was taking a hell of a chance.
I mean, if something had gone wrong, if you hadn't nailed 'em, that lot, cor, didn't want my name written down anywhere, I tell you.
But I had to have a record for the bank, sol put one of them machines on my phone.
Mm-hm.
The bank? Well, I mean, the reward.
They're offering 15 grand for information leading to the arrest of them villains.
Mm.
Your Mr Jones may put two and two together, of course, and tell some friends of his.
Yeah, I thought of that and I nearly didn't It's a lot of money, after all.
Sol got me arrangements made, staying with a mate of mine in Glasgow.
Once I'm paid, a man can get a long way away on 15,000 quid.
Why were you so positive that the three men would be armed? Well, they had to be, didn't they? They used guns when they hit that bank.
It followed.
Brewer, take a statement from this man, but don't let him go.
- We haven't finished with him yet.
- Yes, sir.
Excuse me, sir.
The bank will pay me, won't they? I mean, I did give you the tip-off.
And I've got evidence to prove it.
That's between you and the bank.
What's the holdup? Do you know? No idea.
Mr Donovan said he was on his way.
Well, that was nearly an hour ago.
I wish he'd hurry up and get it over with.
- It's dawn.
- Another new day.
I've known better.
All right, sit down.
Well, first of all, it is now clear that firearms were properly issued on the basis of the information available.
The question of their use is another matter.
Now, this is probably what happened.
Kendrick ran out from the veranda, followed almost immediately by Inspector Crawford.
Mr Crawford fell over some rubbish and dustbins, cutting himself on some wire.
As he fell, he involuntarily fired.
He was also hurt and not unnaturally let out a cry of pain.
Now, Wills and Dewar assumed that Kendrick had shot at Mr Crawford and wounded him and both fired.
Only three shots were fired, not four, but since Mr Crawford's fall presumably made one hell of a noise, well, the confusion is understandable.
The next question is whose bullet hit Kendrick? - We know that, sir.
- I'm not sure that we do.
Inspector Crawford, yours? I don't think so, sir, unless it was a ricochet.
Let's say it's improbable.
Dewar, you believe you shot Kendrick.
- I know I did, sir.
I think not.
You were here, Dewar.
Kendrick was here en route to the gate.
I don't see how you could have put a bullet near his heart from that angle.
Now, I suggest that Sergeant Wills was the marksman.
Confirmation of that will have to await a report from Ballistics, of course.
Yes, sir.
A remarkably accurate piece of shooting to hit a running man on a dark night.
There's one more thing.
The operation was not successful.
Kendrick is dead.
All right, you can all go home now.
The four men who went out that night had every reason to believe that they were going to deal with armed and dangerous men.
Later, the report from Ballistics confirmed that Sergeant Wills had shot Kendrick.
An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide.
I think I'd have done the same as Dewar and Wills in those circumstances.
Good night, all.