Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
On his way home from duty, police constable George Gutteridge was passed by a speeding car. Ever diligent in his duty, he waved down the speeding car in order to write them a ticket. Four hours later, Gutteridge was found dead, in a pool of blood, apparently in the process of writing the ticket. He had been shot four times in the face, two of them once in each eye.
The brutal killing of PC Gutteridge shocked the nation and set off a manhunt, with Scotland Yard soon on the case. The subsequent trial and conviction of the killers, Frederick Browne and William 'Pat' Kennedy, marked the first time in British history that the then-new science of forensic ballistics was used to secure a conviction. PC Gutteridge was not the first British policeman to be killed in the line of duty, nor would be he be the last.
Please note that this programme was made in 1995. Derek Bentley's murder conviction was quashed in 1998, 35 years after his wrongful execution, thus absolving him of any guilt in the killing of PC Miles. Christopher Craig, by then aged 62, issued a statement welcoming the pardon for Bentley, stating that 'his innocence has now been proved'. He also apologised to the families of both PC Miles and Bentley for his actions, as well as his own family for the press intrusion they had suffered over the years. Craig is thought to still be alive as of 2020.
This is the full length episode. Previous uploads are TV recordings with about 3 minutes cut.
On his way home from duty, police constable George Gutteridge was passed by a speeding car. Ever diligent in his duty, he waved down the speeding car in order to write them a ticket. Four hours later, Gutteridge was found dead, in a pool of blood, apparently in the process of writing the ticket. He had been shot four times in the face, two of them once in each eye.
The brutal killing of PC Gutteridge shocked the nation and set off a manhunt, with Scotland Yard soon on the case. The subsequent trial and conviction of the killers, Frederick Browne and William 'Pat' Kennedy, marked the first time in British history that the then-new science of forensic ballistics was used to secure a conviction. PC Gutteridge was not the first British policeman to be killed in the line of duty, nor would be he be the last.
Please note that this programme was made in 1995. Derek Bentley's murder conviction was quashed in 1998, 35 years after his wrongful execution, thus absolving him of any guilt in the killing of PC Miles. Christopher Craig, by then aged 62, issued a statement welcoming the pardon for Bentley, stating that 'his innocence has now been proved'. He also apologised to the families of both PC Miles and Bentley for his actions, as well as his own family for the press intrusion they had suffered over the years. Craig is thought to still be alive as of 2020.
This is the full length episode. Previous uploads are TV recordings with about 3 minutes cut.
