SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

i seem to remember a police officer and a watchman being murdered at sunny bank mills farsley.

That's right - the police officer was an inspector who lived in Calverley. But this tragic incident was much later than the 1960s.

Hi hippychicky,Thank you for your message. I don't have any personal interest in Gordon Rennard, his name just cropped up in a thread that's all. As mentioned, he was on the 'wanted list' for years in the late 1960's/early 1970's and I just wondered how he managed to stay at large for so long, which made me wonder what had happened to him and how he managed to evade arrest.Ian    

trophy wrote: i seem to remember a police officer and a watchman being murdered at sunny bank mills farsley. Hi trophy,The murder was in 1970:http://www.policememorial.org.uk/Forces ... or.htmWhat happened was that a local criminal, Neil George Adamson, from the Stanningley/Pudsey area committed a burglary in Leeds at Scriven and Crossthwaites premises near to Quarry Hill Flats. The alarm was activated and when the Police from Millgarth attended, they found that a shotgun had been used to blow off some locks on doors inside the premises. The burglar had escaped. A friend of mine (who happened to be my 'best man') was a sergeant at Millgarth and was the first on the scene.The intruder then went to the mill premises at Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley near Pudsey. He shot and killed the night watchman, Ian Michael Riley, and the Police were called, as an alarm was activated. The shot was also heard by the public. Inspector Barry Taylor was shot dead by the intruder after climbing over the entrance gate to the premises. Adamson was arrested in Colne and later appeared at Leeds Assizes where he pleaded guilty to the two murder charges and received two concurrent life sentences of a minimum of thirty years. There were other offences involving firearms and explosives.In 1970, Pudsey was part of the West Yorkshire Constabulary (previously West Riding Constabulary). Sometimes, in cases such as this, a Chief Constable would ask other forces for help in terms of manpower or expertise. I think that this happened in this case and officers from Leeds City Police and Bradford City Police were called in to help. For about three days, my job was to act as 'chauffeur' and helper to Detective Chief Superintendent Dennis Hoban who was the head of Leeds C.I.D. I remember driving him to the old Pudsey Police Station to a Press Conference just after the murders had happened and the car broke down.My friend, who was the sergeant at Millgarth, and I, often wondered what would have happened if the intruder had still been inside the premises at Scriven and Crossthwaites when he attended. It may well have been him that was shot.Ian        

thanks for the info