A 7th Visit to Bermuda by Scotland Yard

In early February 2025 we published an extensive article written by retired Supt. George Rose about 6 visits made to Bermuda by Scotland Yard detectives to assist in major criminal investigations.  The article included cases such as the Warwick Murders of 1957, and the series of murders that included the assassination of H.E.Governor, Sir Richard Sharples and his A.D.C., and the Commissioner of Police, in the early 1970’s.  

It was believed at the time we pubished this article that we had included all of the cases in which Scotland Yard detectives had assisted the Bermuda Police in helping to solve serious crimes.  However, soon after  publication of the article we were contacted by former P.C. John “Alfie” Fox, who had served here in the Bermuda Police from 1962-1964.  Alfie wrote that while serving in Eastern Division, St. George's he distinctly remembered two Scotland Yard detectives who came to Bermuda  to assist in the investigation of a serious sexual attack on a Scottish nanny which occurred in early 1964.

P.C. John "Alfie" Fox

In fact, Alfie had written details of the case in a  fascinating “Then and Now" article he wrote for our website several years ago.   Alfie clearly has an excellent memory and was even able to name the two Scotland Yard  detectives, Supt Halliday and D/Sgt Peeling. He particularly remembered that a fingerprint (thumbprint) from the culprit was found at the scene and that the Commissioner George Robins “volunteered” all police officers to submit their fingerprints for exclusion during the investigation. 

Alfie also noted that after the two Scotland Yard detectives  “began a formal systematic review of all evidence gathered  and it was soon realized that an overlooked note in a Parish Constables notebook  (I believe it was Laurie Jackson) recorded seeing the individual who was on the road close to the scene of the crime. When officers were sent to interview the individual he readily confessed to the crime.”  CLICK HERE to read our "Then and Now" column written by John "Alfie" Fox.

Armed with the information Alfie brought to our attention, George Rose immediately got to work researching through the Royal Gazette, the  Bermuda Recorder and other archives, and the following article is an in-depth report confirming that the Scotland Yard detectives had indeed been assigned to assist in this investigation which might be called  the "Operation Tom Thumb Case" which has now been added to our list of cases in which Scotland Yard has provided assistance to the Bermuda Police.

Here is George Rose’s article about the 7^th case where Scotland Yard have visited Bermuda:-

1964

VICIOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT ON 19-YEAR-OLD GIRL 

As first reported by the Royal Gazette (RG) on Monday, January 27, 1964, a 19-year-old English girl was still under heavy sedation at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. She was the victim of the third and by far the most vicious sexual assault of the past months. A senior police official described the attempted rape as “a very, very bad case. She is in a very bad state.” 

As a result of the Saturday night crime, police had set up a sub-station at a cottage called the “Jolly Roger” in Tucker’s Town. The police spokesman said; "We don’t want to pull any punches at all on this.” He added that the girl had been badly beaten by her assailant who was described only as five feet five inches tall, with curly hair. 

The Colony was upset over the weekend to learn of a vicious assault on a 19-year-old English girl by man who appeared to be trying to rape her, while she was babysitting at a home in Tucker’s Town. Badly bruised and upset she was taken to hospital and kept under heavy sedation.

The story so far is that she was assaulted by a man who gained entry through a window, [and] tried to rape her in the house. Unsuccessful, he dragged her with her head under his arms some quarter of a mile away, ripped off all her clothes and tied her to a tree with other clothes taken from a clothes line. Then fled.

She struggled loose, made it to a nearby house, then fainted. Police have set up a sub-station in the area and are conducting intensive investigations. The Tucker’s Town incident took place on Saturday evening. On Monday another man broke into the home of two women in Flatts. They fled into a bathroom and escaped through the window. The intruder was not seen again.

On Saturday night ZBM TV screened an artist’s impression of the face of the man police are seeking following the attempted rape at Tucker’s Town last week. Response to the picture was immediate and a number of telephone calls were received at Police Headquarters. 

A police spokesman yesterday told The Royal Gazette: “The picture was drawn by a member of the Police Force from a description given by the girl. The result is just as good as those obtained on identikit pictures made in the States or England — and is sometimes better. “With very short notice we came through to ZBM TV and they agreed to show the picture. It was a fine example of cooperation which certainly earned our thanks. 

“When the picture was shown early in the evening there was an immediate response — eight calls came through to the headquarters. ZBM gave another late night showing after the Maigret program, which was peak viewing time. Again there was an immediate response. 

“We were very pleased indeed. As a result of the telephone calls we are following certain lines of inquiry. The whole thing was very encouraging.” 

The police have now issued a detailed description of the wanted man: age, late 20s; height, approximately 5ft. 8in.; weight, approximately 160 lbs.; complexion, medium brown, clean shaven (note: not Portuguese): features, small straight nose, thin lips, small mouth, eyebrows well defined but not bushy, round or oval shaped face; hair, black curly hair, worn quite long, fairly soft texture, no parting and roughly swept back, straight hairline across forehead, hair not kinky or close, no smell of hair grease; voice, softly spoken with a Bermudian accent; hands, believed right-handed, medium rough hands, no rings.

 REWARD OFFER  OF £500 IN TUCKER’S TOWN ASSAULT 

HAVE YOU SEEN a man who looks like this?

“A reward of £500 will be paid to any person for information leading to the arrest of the would-be rapist who viciously attacked a 19-year-old English girl in Tucker’s Town. 

The reward, which is advertised in today’s Royal Gazette on page six, was announced yesterday following a top-level conference between senior police officials. “At the conference we reviewed the investigations to date and felt that now was a good time to offer a reward,” a police spokesman told The Gazette yesterday.

The official announcement states: “A reward of £500 will be paid to any person for information leading to the arrest of the man who on the night of January 25 at Tucker’s Town committed criminal assault and attempted rape." 

This latest development in the investigations being conducted by the police follows the publication of an artist’s impression of the assailant which had been drawn by a member of the police force based on information supplied by the girl. The police have also set up a temporary substation in the Tucker’s Town area as a base of operations being conducted by teams of detectives in their search for the assailant. 

The response from members of the public to the simulated picture of the assailant has been very good, the spokesman announced, and yesterday detectives were following up new leads. So far, though, there has been no response to an earlier appeal for information concerning a man who may have been seen recently with scratches on his face.

The spokesman explained that rewards by the police are only issued in really serious cases and the last one advertised was last year following a series of bombings which culminated in the bombing at the Harmony Hall manager's cottage.

To date no one has come forward with information to collect that reward.

 ……. The reward, the latest move in the police investigation into the [Tucker’s Town] case, which was announced to the public at the beginning of the week, was attacked yesterday in The Royal Gazette’s correspondence columns by Thomas N. Dill as being too small. 

“We have not completed our lines of investigation by any means,” he assured. So far there has not been much response from the general public to the offer of the reward, and the spokesman noted, there was a great deal more response to the viewing on television over the week-end of an artist’s impression of the assailant.  “In fact the response to that appeal has been about the best we have ever had," the spokesman observed. 

Police are now looking for a person with light brown complexion a round face topped by a lot of curly hair and clean shaven (if by now the chap has not grown a beard and cut his hair close). He might well grow a beard for police suspect that he has some nasty scratches across his face which he got during the struggle with his 19-year-old victim.

Public response to the appeal by police for males between the ages of 20 and 35 to come forward and be thumb-printed has not been as good as anticipated. A police spokesman told The Royal Gazette yesterday that up to Wednesday some 527 males had been thumb-printed since the drive got under way on Sunday morning.

The thumb-printing is the latest move by police in their investigations into the Tucker’s Town attempted rape case, when a young English girl fell victim to a vicious assault. The spokesman commented. “We thought there would be better response than there has been at the moment, especially when you bear in mind there are an estimated 6,000 males in this age group in the Colony.” 

On Tuesday, a team of police thumb-printed men of the Bermuda Rifles at Warwick Camp. All the men, at present engaged in their annual camp, volunteered their prints, and some 120 were added to the list. An appeal to employers has met with no response so far. In this connection, the police have said they will send a fingerprinting team to a place of work where the employer has gauged there are a sufficient number of his employees to volunteer their thumbprints.

Scotland Yard has been called into the Tucker's Town attempted rape case, and two detectives from the world-famous police agency will be arriving in the Colony on Sunday. 

This latest development in the vicious case of assault on a young English girl, which today is probably hitting the front pages of English daily newspapers, was officially announced by the Bermuda police last night. The attack by the would-be rapist on the girl while she was baby sitting alone in a house in Tucker’s Town on January 24 has resulted in several sweeping measures being taken by the police in their investigations. A police sub-station was set up In Tucker’s Town the following day to act as a base for investigations being conducted by teams of detectives. 

A £500 reward was later offered for information leading to the arrest of the assailant, who is described as a light-skinned coloured man, and an artist’s impression of the man was shown over television and printed In the local press. The latest move was an appeal by police to all males in the Colony between the ages of 20 and 35 to come toward voluntarily to have their thumb prints taken. But this has met with little response, and up to yesterday the total number of people who had come forward numbered some 640. It is estimated there are around 6,000 males in this age group in Bermuda. The procedure was debated in the House of Assembly yesterday where some members termed it “ineffective.” 

The official statement on the Yard men read: “At the request of the Bermuda Government, the Commissioner of Police of the (London) Metropolis has consented to the release of two Scotland Yard officers to come to Bermuda to advise the local police in the continuing investigations into the criminal assault and attempted rape which took place at Tucker’s Town on January 24. 

“The Scotland Yard officers are Detective Superintendent B. N. Halliday and Detective Sergeant R. G. Peeling and they will arrive in Bermuda by air on Sunday, February 23.” 

In the House of Assembly yesterday Mr. Henry Vesey gave notice that when the House meets again next Wednesday he will ask Lt. Col. the Hon. J. C. Astwood, government spokesman for the police department, the following question: — “Has Scotland Yard been asked to assist police in their investigation relating to the recent criminal assault on a young lady in Tucker’s Town?” (The announcement that Scotland Yard was being called in was not made public until after the House had adjourned.)

A B.O.A.C. aircraft in which two Scotland Yard detectives were flying to the Colony was delayed in London yesterday. The detectives have been called in to help solve the Tucker’s Town attempted rape case. Originally due to arrive at about 7.30 last evening, the plane was, at last word, scheduled to arrive at 2 a.m. today. A B.O.A.C. spokesman said that the delay was caused by “too many flights and not enough planes.” 

The two detectives, Superintendent B. N. Halliday and Sergeant R. G. Peeling, were called in after moves including a plan to have all males between 20 and 35 years who were in the Colony on January 24 fingerprinted proved ineffective. At last report, only 640 of the estimated 6,000 males who would come into this category had volunteered their right and left thumbprints. 

A very short time after the would-be rapist made his vicious attack on a 19-year-old English baby-sitter, local police set up a sub-station in Tucker’s Town in an all-out effort to find the man. A sketch and description of the man who did it were reproduced in local newspapers and on television. A £500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the culprit, but to date, no one has claimed this. The announcement that Scotland Yard would be called in came on Friday night exactly one month after the attack. A local police spokesman said yesterday, “We’re delighted that they’re coming. Let's hope we shall have every success with them.”

The two Scotland Yard officers who arrived in the Colony on Sunday to assist local police in their investigation into the Tucker’s Town attempted rape case were yesterday reading up on the progress of the inquiries to date. Det. Sup. B. N. Halliday and Det. Sgt. R. G. Peeling were operating from the temporary Tucker’s Town sub police station. A police spokesman reported the two Yard men had visited the scene where a young English girl was viciously assaulted. 

Meanwhile there still appears to be little response to the appeal by police for thumbprints from all males in the Colony between the ages of 20 and 35. Operation Tom Thumb, as it has come to be known, got underway a week last Sunday, and of the estimated 6,000 males in this age group in the Colony only some 800 had volunteered their thumbprints up until yesterday.

It hasn’t taken Scotland Yard long to break the attempted rape case at Tucker’s Town. Alternatively, their investigations have enabled the Bermuda police to make correct deductions from their previous investigation. A terse statement issued by a police spokesman yesterday evening reads: “The police are satisfied that they know the identity of the person responsible for the Tucker’s Town attempted rape case.

As a result of the Saturday, January 25 Tucker’s Town crime the Police set up a sub-station at a cottage in Tucker's Town. 

Still later a general request was issued to all males in the Colony between the ages of 20 and 35 to come forward and have their thumbprints recorded. 

Then a week later came the official announcement that two Scotland Yard detectives were to be called in on the case. The Bermuda Government had requested that aid be sought from the world famous police agency. In the small hours of Monday morning Det. Sup. B. N. Halliday and Det. Sgt. R. Peeling of Scotland Yard arrived here by plane. 

A young man from St. David’s Island was yesterday charged in Hamilton magistrates court in connection with what has become known as the Tucker’s Town case and was remanded in custody for 14 days. 

He is Kenneth Irvin Pitcher, and the charge against him is that of assaulting Daphne Lormer Ritchie with intent to have unlawful carnal knowledge of her without her consent. The date given in the charge is January 25, and the location is noted as Hamilton Parish. Yesterday’s formal proceeding lasted only a few minutes. When Pitcher had been brought into court, Inspector J. C. P. Hanlon for the prosecution asked the magistrate, the Wor. L. J. Williams, that Pitcher be remanded in custody for 14 days. Telling the accused he would be remanded for this period Mr. Williams asked him if he had anything to say about it. Pitcher, in a low tone of voice, replied “No sir.” He is about 5 feet 5 inches tall, light-skinned and appears to be in his middle twenties. He is stocky in build and his reddish hair is thick and unparted. 

The court room was full, most of those present being police officers. Also in court were the two men who came from Scotland Yard to aid the police in their investigation of the case, Det. Superintendent B. N. Halliday and Det. Sergeant R. G. Peeling. Police Superintendent Richard Fielders, head of the local C. I.D., was also amongst those present.

The lower court hearing of the indictable offence will take place in Hamilton magistrates court on a date to be determined. The two Scotland Yard officers will be staying in Bermuda to give evidence. If necessary they will be here at the next Assizes. This was announced by a police spokesman, yesterday. Det. Supt. Halliday and Det. Sgt. Peeling in the meantime will study some of the important cases still on police files which have not yet been closed. The Yard men arrived in the Colony just over a week ago.

RG Saturday, March 7, 1964

Pictured above are the two Scotland Yard officers who arrived in the Colony some two weeks

The Tucker's Town attempted rape case will come before the court at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning in Hamilton Magistrates Court. The man charged by police as being the assailant of a 19-year-old English girl who was attacked on the night of January 24, while she was baby-sitting in a Tucker’s Town home, is Kenneth Irvin Pitcher. 

On Friday, the two detectives who had been called in from New Scotland Yard gave their evidence as did nine officers of the Bermuda police force, including a woman police officer. The case was prosecuted by the Solicitor General, Mr. Hector Barcilon.

On this day the Criminal Sessions opened in the Supreme Court where Kenneth Irvin Pitcher, 26, of St. David’s Island was arraigned and charged with the attempted rape of a young Scottish nanny in Tucker’s Town on January 25. 

He pleaded guilty to breaking and entering "Roughill" in Tucker’s Town, the residence of Mr. C.H. Ford Hutchings with intent to commit a felony and doing grievous bodily harm to Miss Ritchie; and attempting to have unlawful carnal knowledge of the girl without her consent. 

Pitcher was not immediately sentenced but was remanded in custody until next Monday, April 20. At that time the Chief Justice, the Hon. M. J. Abbott, said he would hear from Dr. A. J. Jackson, who is to be called by Mrs. Lois Browne-Evans, M.C.P., counsel for Pitcher, to speak in mitigation.

Mr. Hector Barcilon, the Solicitor General, told of the "utterly vicious and brutal attack” on the girl, who was alone in the house except for sleeping children. He told of the man with a mask over his face, and wearing a long dark raincoat, who went into the house and grabbed hold of her. 

Pitcher, went on the Solicitor General, then went back to the house to remove finger-prints, Pitcher told the police. He returned to the girl and attempted to commit an offence but failed to do so. He then untied her hands. He left and she made her way to “Dover House” nearby. She spent five or six days in hospital. 

Mr. Barcilon read out a statement made by Pitcher to the police. In it Pitcher said he had looked for a woman but did not have the nerve to face one. He saw the light in the Tucker’s Town home and looked in. The girl was doing some embroidery. He saw the children asleep and entered the house.

Pitcher’s police record was read out, beginning with a conviction when he was nine years old. He had been sent to corrective training as a juvenile and had served prison terms as an adult.

Mr. Barcilon said although the accused had been questioned in connection with the case, there had been a “red herring’’ drawn across it and it was after this was removed that Pitcher was again questioned. The two Scotland Yard officers, Det. Superintendent B. N. Halliday and Det. Sgt. R. G. Peeling, had arrived and questioned Pitcher at the Casemates. Pitcher had been arrested for prowling on February 19 (after the Tucker’s Town case). 

In an identification parade, said the Solicitor General, Miss Ritchie made a positive identification of the accused.

Praise for the Bermuda Police Force was voiced yesterday by the two Scotland Yard detectives who have been here assisting and advising the local police in various cases, but principally in the Tucker's Town attempted rape case. 

The two men from Scotland Yard's famed Murder Squad, Det. Supt. Bernard (Bob) Halliday, and Det. Sgt. Raymond Peeling, who will be returning to London today, held their first and only press conference yesterday morning at police headquarters at Prospect. Before they left the Colony, Det. Supt. Halliday said he wanted to make the following comment about the local force with which he and Det. Sgt. Peeling had been working closely for nearly eight weeks.

"He noted, however, that working on cases in Bermuda presented a lot of problems simply because it was so far away from the laboratories and other facilities of Scotland Yard. And a community the size of Bermuda could not, of course, support full specialized technical facilities of its own.

The two detectives overcame these problems, however, by keeping in close touch with their headquarters and a third member of their team in London by telephone, cable and mail. Dispelling a common misconception about Scotland Yard techniques, Det. Supt. Halliday said the same detectives did not always work together as teams, as the writers of mystery novels might have one believe, but that the teams of men were made up more or less as the occasion demanded.

During their stay in Bermuda, the two men had very little time for sightseeing but, commented Det. Supt. Halliday, "in our work we have pretty well seen every inch of the island. We've been all the way from St. David's to the Casemates ......... and all in one day, too."

How did they like the Islands?

"Bermuda is a beautiful place. Bermudians are wonderful people and they have a fine sense of humour. We don't want to go home," said Det. Supt. Halliday. Both men agreed they would like to come back again someday but preferably not for the same reason which brought them here this time.

Det. Supt. Halliday, who is one of ten men of his rank in the famous Murder Squad, said there was nothing really special about the Yard. Its special benefit is derived from its very long history and experience in cases of all sorts and techniques in solving them.

At the end of the press conference, Chief Superintendent Frank Williams of the Bermuda Police Force, who was also present, remarked there were two questions which he had hoped the press would ask. The first was about "gooseneck" handlebars on auxiliary cycles. Det. Sgt. Peeling commented they did not look very safe to him.

Chief Superintendent Williams, with a grin creeping over his face, then broached the second question which he thought the press might have asked. "Have you met the Beatles?" he said as everyone burst into laughter. 

Det. Supt. Halliday admitted he had not met them face to face but had come close to it. He also admitted the other day he had bought an "I love the Beatles" badge in a Hamilton store and then when he had gone back for another one they were all sold out.

At first he said, "Oh good Heavens don't print that!" - and then on second thought added, "Oh well....... why not, they have given England such a lot of promotion."

The two detectives are scheduled to fly back to England at 8.50 p.m. today. Once back in London they will start preparing a report on their work in Bermuda.

RG Friday, April 17, 1964

YARDMEN — The two Scotland Yard detectives who have been assisting the Bermuda police

The two Yard men remained in the Colony to attend Pitcher's trial in the Supreme Court, but Pitcher in fact pleaded guilty and they were not called upon to give evidence. During their stay they looked into other cases on the police files. Both officers declared at a press conference they had enjoyed their stay in Bermuda very much.

The packed courtroom was hushed as Dr. Arthur Jackson, called in by the defence counsel, Mrs. Lois Browne-Evans, gave evidence. Following his evidence the Chief Justice, the Hon. M. J. Abbott, and the Assistant Justice, Sir Alan Smith, reserved judgment until 9.30 a.m. on Monday to allow “very careful” consideration on how to deal with the accused. Pitcher, who had pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of Miss Daphne Lormer Ritchie in the Tucker’s Town case, had nothing to say and during most of the proceedings stared in front of him. 

Asked by Mrs. Browne-Evans what conclusion he had formed after examining the accused, Dr. Jackson replied: “There is a group of defective personalities known as socio-pathological or constitutional psychopathic personalities. He, Pitcher, is in that category. 

Asked what symptoms he had, the doctor replied “He has all the symptoms.” 

Of Pitcher, Dr. Jackson said: ‘“He has a long record of doing things on the spur of the moment according to any basic instincts which may be aroused. He has never felt remorse nor does he take any thought what might happen if he is apprehended in anything that he does. “He has never shown a normal affection one would expect for his mother or his siblings (brothers and sisters). He has been repeatedly returned to custody throughout his life and he shows particular difficulty in his sexual emotional sphere whereby he has a sexual drive for sexual gratification which is not obtained in the usual fashion.”

“I take it you are not referring to homosexuality?” inquired the Chief Justice.

“I might say that these conclusions are reached by examining and talking with the individual and there are no physical tests that one can put an individual through to prove these facts, they being purely psychological.

The Solicitor-General, Mr. Hector Barcilon, asked the witness whether from his conversations with the accused he had any doubt that the accused knew what he was doing when he committed the offence for which he was charged. “I am sure he knew what he was doing and knew what the penalty would be," replied Dr. Jackson. “He knew he was doing wrong." 

Mr. Barcilon then questioned him on evidence which was adduced that the witness went back to the house to wipe off fingerprints.

Mrs. Browne-Evans asked how his act would balance out with these feelings that he had. “It balances out completely," replied Dr. Jackson. “Punishment means nothing to such people when they are driven by these basic impulses." 

Mrs. Browne-Evans, speaking in mitigation, pointed out that the accused had a history of offences dated back to the age of nine. It had been clear, she said, that Pitcher had the benefit of only two years of formal education. Then there was Dr. Jackson’s evidence that Pitcher fitted into the category of a constitutional psychopath and the evidence in the report that Pitcher’s father was now undergoing preventive detention [and] that his mother was unmarried with eight children and there was no home environment. 

Mrs. Browne-Evans said Pitcher was known in the East End as a “shy, quiet" type of person. Though he was thought to have something odd about him he was never known to commit offences of this nature — his previous offences were breaking, entering and stealing. 

She remarked that Pitcher had said he was sorry and this should be borne in mind along with Dr. Jackson's observations. The defence counsel described Pitcher as an industrious worker. 

After reading the charges to which Pitcher had pleaded guilty the Registrar-General inquired whether he had anything to say. He replied quietly: "No sir." 

Pitcher was originally charged in the Supreme Court with breaking and entering the Tucker’s Town home of Mr. G. H. Ford Hutchings with intent to commit felony and doing grievous bodily harm to Miss Ritchie and attempting to have unlawful carnal knowledge of the girl without her consent.

Kenneth Irvin Pitcher of St. David’s grinned when the Chief Justice, the Hon. Myles Abbott, sentenced him to 18 years in gaol in the Supreme Court on Monday, April 27, 1964 on charges arising out of his vicious attack on a 19-year-old girl in Tucker’s Town in January.

A smile flickered across 26-year-old Pitcher’s face as he entered the dock to hear the sentence. This was the only emotion expressed by the man who has been described as a completely irredeemable constitutional psychopath. The Chief Justice told Pitcher: “Kenneth Irvin Pitcher, you have pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a house here and committing therein the felony of doing grievous bodily harm to a young woman with intent to disable her, that, in effect, so as to render her incapable of resisting you. 

You have also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape the same young woman. “There is only one thing to be said in your favour and that is that you admitted both these offences when you were arraigned before this court, thus avoiding the necessity for the victim of your offences to undergo, once more, the ordeal of giving evidence in this case. 

"This court has had the advantage of both hearing and seeing what an eminent doctor and professor of psychiatry has to say about you. Dr. Jackson gives it as his view that you are completely irredeemable and that no amount of punishment will ever make the slightest difference to you.

“Were it not for that, I should, speaking for myself, have sentenced you to be severely whipped with the cat o’ nine tails, because that punishment would have served to remind you of the agony and suffering you inflicted on Miss Ritchie.

“Miss Ritchie has, we gather, more or less recovered physically from your attack upon her and will suffer no permanent physical harm. 

“She is plainly a courageous girl, but she can obviously never entirely erase from her mind the appalling experience which she underwent from your treatment of her that night. You made upon her a vicious, brutal and murderous attack in furtherance of your filthy lust.

“It is no fault of yours that you do not appear here on an even more serious charge. You left her, having secured her to a tree, in such a place that had she managed to free herself she might easily have rolled down a slope and over a cliff on to jagged rocks which might have caused her death.

“It is possible, however, to pass a sentence of such a length as will ensure your being unable for several years to commit this or any other sort of crime. 

“On the first count of the indictment you will go to prison for six years and on the second count you will serve a sentence of 12 years' imprisonment, and those sentences will run consecutively. Thus the total term of imprisonment to which you are now sentenced is 18 years.” 

The Solicitor General, Mr. Hector Barcilon, appeared for the Crown in the case, and Mrs. Lois Browne-Evans for the defence.

Disposal of the so-called Tucker’s Town case by the Supreme Court this week may have put from the public mind the immediate implications of this vicious affair. Nevertheless we suggest that now that immediacies are well and truly disposed of by the court, some of the issues that boiled up during the investigative stages might well be dispassionately discussed. 

In the upshot the public — and the victim — were spared testimony on the unsavoury details of the brutal attack that earned a young St. David’s man a term of 18 years in gaol. Similarly, some of the more germane facts having to do with public policy in such cases were not treated with in public nor, in the light of British law, could they otherwise be brought out. There was during the more abortive stages of the investigation injection of the question: Compulsory or voluntary fingerprinting? 

The police, in the early days of their inquiries, asked for voluntary fingerprinting of a certain group of the total population. It was not well responded to, and in any case one gathers that it did not bulk finally as a key factor. Perhaps this is the “red herring” to which allusion was made during the High Court trial. At any rate, now rather than then seems to be a proper time to discuss this whole matter of fingerprinting carefully, without involvement of emotions and passions. We have already made our position plain. Had all the facts come out in public we have reason to believe we might have been reinforced in a then unpopular view. 

There is also the point that the accused actually passed through the hands of the police — and through the lower court into gaol — during the hue and cry in the Tucker’s Town case. The public will have to make of this what they will. It would hardly seem in the circumstances that calling on the resources of Scotland Yard should have been necessary. Here again a dispassionate review of total methods would seem to be indicated. And there is, finally, that vastly broader issue raised by the character of the accused himself — an irredeemable psychopath, in the words of a psychiatrist, who was well known for activity leading in the direction that finally cost him 18 years in goal, activity that persisted during the search for him. We are, it need scarcely be said, an extremely small and tightly-knit community. How then, may it be asked, do such people as Kenneth Irvin Pitcher and Wendell Willis Lightbourne come to be a menace to the community?  What can be done by society as a whole to detect such people in their illness and take the consequent steps toward therapy or protection? It is a very big question that is not finally answered by incarceration of one or two psychopaths.

Det/Supt Lawrence "Laurie" Jackson

COMMENDATION FOR P.C. LAWRENCE "LAURIE" Jackson

As reported in the Introduction to this article,  P.C. John "Alfie" Fox, in his "Then and Now" reminiscences recalled hearing  that the Scotland Yard detectives reviewing the evidence in this case realized that a note in a Parish Constables notebook, who he believed was Laurie Jackson, had recorded seeing a particular individual on the road close to the scene of the crime.  As a result of this information officers were sent to interview the individual, Kenneth Irvin Pitcher, and he readily confessed to the crime.

Although P.C. Laurie Jackson had provided key evidence leading to the arrest of the culprit, there was no mention of him during the trial because Pitcher pleaded guilty so there was no need to call prosecution witness.  The only witness in the case was called by Defence Counsel and he was Dr. Arthur Jackson, a consultant psychiatrist and neurologist. 

Lawrence "Laurie" Jackson had joined the Bermuda Police in October 1961, and on checking his personal file at Police Headquarters it revealed that on 1st May 1964 he was awarded a Commendation for providing the information which led to the arrest of the culprit in this case.  "Laurie" went on to spend most of his career in the Bermuda Police as a detective in CID. He earned three more Commendations for his excellent detective work;  he rose to the rank of Detective Superintendent and had an outstanding and highly respected 30 year career, retiring in 1991.   He passed away in 2002.

2025 is a special year for our colleagues who joined the Bermuda Police during 1975 because at some point this year those who are still with us will be celebrating their 50^th Anniversary since signing on to the join the Police Service.

The first intake of 1975 occurred  on 3^rd February when, according to Police records six experienced officers from the UK arrived on Island. These were Paul Cranage, David Adams, Peter Giles, Alastair Dellanzo, David Cart and Peter Gimson. 

They were closely followed on 4^th February by a further nine experienced UK officers -  Ian Kittle, John Wright, Alan Cleave, Gerald ‘Gerry’ Benson, Angus MacDonald, Alan Smith , Stephen Smedley, Graham Alderson and Michael “Mick” Ross.   

These young men all attended the same Induction Course as shown in the photo below, then off they went to their various Divisions.

All of the March recruits attended Basic Training Course No. 19 held from March – June 1975.

Following the above two intakes, recruitment slowed down for the rest of the year, with just Etoile Wilson joining on 26^th April as a civilian, Earlston Thompson on 8^th October as a constable, and one very special civilian, Brenda Johnson, who joined us on 8th December.

So, in all we had 35 constables plus 2 civilians join during 1975.

Of those recruits from 1975 no less than 6 have written excellent articles for our “Then and Now” column which you can view here on our website, and all you need to do is click on their names under the photos below

Steve Smedley 

Eddie Davies

Paul Dellanzo

 Ian Kittle

Sadly, we've lost a few of our 1975 intake including  Alan Smith, Dave Adams, Graham Alderson and Bob Anthony. 

Alan Smith passed away in July 2015  (No photo available)

Dave Adams  passed away in May 2020   (No photo available)

Graham Alderson passed away on 1st June 2024.  We heard the sad news from his daughter that he passed away after long illness. Graham is pictured below with his colleagues in the Scenes of Crime Department where he spent much of his service.

 UPDATES ON WHO IS WHERE AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING THESE DAYS!

Last month we received the following information from Paul Cranage about his arrival on Island:-

Dave Cart and I celebrate our 50 years “On de Rock” next month.

Fifteen of us joined the Service on 3rd and 4th February, 1975, and Dave and I are the last two still here. The remainder ventured further afield and sadly to my knowledge, Alan Smith, Dave Adams and Graham Alderson have transferred to the ‘Beat above!’

I’m still in touch with Gerry Benson as we were both Leeds City lads (later to become West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police in 1974 due  to local government reorganisation and amalgamations).

I was Dave Cart’s Best man at his wedding and he reciprocated to be mine. Audrey and I are god parents to Dave and Sylvia’s three children, Helen, Melissa and Andrew. We remain the best of friends.

Dave, Sylvia, Audrey and I will be having a celebratory lunch on the 3rd and no doubt will have a few snaps for the album. I will be sure to send you one!!

Sylvia & Dave Cart and Audrey & Paul Cranage 

EDITORS NOTE -

We would be very interested to hear from all of the above who are still with us to hear where you are and what you’re doing these days, and we would be delighted if you could also send us a fairly recent photo of yourself, perhaps with your family.

We have heard that our good friend and colleague, "Fast Eddie" Davies has really gone to the dogs of late although we he claims he can still keep pace with the family of greyhounds he and Irene have adopted.  What an appropriate  choice of dogs"!

2nd March 2025

Hola from Dave and Jan O'Meara

 Young P.C. Dave O'Meara

We’ve just heard from Dave O’Meara who is one of the 35 police officers recruited back in 1975 and who this year will be celebrating his 50th Anniversary of joining the Bermuda Police, as we reported above.

As reported above, Dave attended Basic Training Course # 19 held between March and June 1975, after which he was posted to Central (Hamilton) for just over a year before being transferred to Operations (Traffic). In 1981 he made the moved to Narcotics, where, as he writes below, it was perhaps the best time during his police career and a “real eye opener” on the daily drug problems Bermuda was going through.  Dave later spent several years in Drug Intelligence, and he retired after 25 years service in August 2000.

Dave has brought us up-to-date on what he did after retiring from the Police, and I think it’s fair to say that he and Jan are “cruising” through life  living in Spain, playing lots of golf, and cruising around the world about as often as another of his former colleagues, Dave Cart, who is also celebrating his 50^th Anniversary  of joining the BPS.  By coincidence, Dave and Jan have even met up with Dave and Sylvia Cart   in Dubai when the O'Mearas were just finishing a cruise to Singapore while the Carts were just about to embark on the same  ship for a cruise to Singapore. 

Dave and Jan O'Meara meet up with Sylvia and Dave Cart in Dubai

As pointed out in the article we published earlier this year about the 1975 intake, only two of those 35 young officers have retired and remained on Island – Dave Cart and Paul Cranage and their wives.

EDITORS NOTE -  There’s no question that with all this travelling around the globe, the two Dave’s should write a comprehensive guide for Bermuda police officers planning on taking a cruise!

Here's the email we received from Dave:-

Hola,  As Roger pointed out, I among others joined the Bermuda Police Force back in 1975, in my case on the 1st March 1975 which seems a very long time ago.   I was lucky enough to have already been working in Bermuda since February 1973 in construction and decorating work.   I joined because the company I was then employed with had been told by Bermuda Immigration that my working contract would not be renewed due to a downsize in the construction field and I would have to leave the island.  I won’t dwell on that but I must say life within the force was a lot different from outside.   

My first days were with class 19 learning how to be a Police Officer with the rest of the class who were from Bermuda, the UK and the Caribbean islands.  Friends were made and much was learned as the weeks moved along and passing out day arrived and the real work began. The months rolled into years and during that time I was posted to central uniform duties, then traffic division and perhaps the best time period for me, working in Narcotics.  This was a real eye opener on the daily drug problems Bermuda was going through.   Long, long days with little or no thanks for the hard work we were expected to do trying to stop the flow of drugs into the island and more so on the streets of the island.  I also did a few years in the Drug Intelligence office within Special Branch before  I retired in August 2000, after 25 years.    

After the Police, working in the civilian sector was totally different, much more relaxed, as my work as head of security and facility manager for a large international Acccounting Firm,  saw me carrying out work without having to first submit a report(s) on what needed doing and how and who to do it first and most importantly, the cost.  I was told “don’t need this paperwork, get on with it and tell me when it’s done“.  Ten years flew by, and it was decided by my wife Jan and myself to retire full time and we decided to move to Spain to spend our retirement there.  Bermuda had become far too expensive to live in let alone while living on just a retirement/pension.  

In Spain, life was much more tranquil and less expensive as we fulfilled our dreams of still living in the sun, playing golf often while also being able to travel and explore not only Spain but much of Europe and the far East as these parts of the world were still unexplored by us.  Cruising on cruise ships also became a source of enjoyment for us and a super way to see the world, and to date we have 23 cruises under our belt and the next cruise is already booked for later on this year.   

As for the recruits I joined the Police with, although still friends with a few still living in Bermuda, I have not kept up with the others as they moved on with their lives. The Ex Bermuda Police website is a great source of news to us and keeps us up to date on friends still in Bermuda.  The Polce Force I joined has now become a Police Service, with a new Police station to replace the old one on Parliament Street and was badly needed even when I joined the service, and it also gives us other news on old friends and their new lives around the world.  A big well done to Roger and the rest of the staff who undertake this service.     

Jan and Dave O'Meara in Split, Croatia - 2024

Photo of both of us was taken in Split, Croatia mid 2024 whilst on a visit to that part of the world.  We enjoyed the country very much and look forwards to returning.