PC 489 George William Gutteridge

[ebobby]

George William Gutteridge was the nephew of my great grandparents.


He served with Essex County Constabulary from Apr 5, 1910, Essex County Constabulary from Feb 23, 1919 and died on Sep 27, 1927.
In the early hours of Tuesday 27th September 1927 the body of PC 489 George Gutteridge was found in a country lane near to Howe Green, between Romford and Ongar, in Essex. The body was propped up against a bank with the legs sticking out into the road.He had been shot four times, twice through the left cheek and once through each eye. Time of death was placed between four and five hours prior to discovery.
His murderes were caught and hanged.
His murder led to the introduction of the 999 call and was famous also because, for the first time, conviction was secured by ballistics evidence.


THE MURDER
https://www.murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kennedy-william.htm
THE GRAVESITE
https://www.
findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=69918228

[Jan1954]

The murder makes for fascinating reading and I have found the case in my Encyclopaedia of Executions in the 20th Century.

Apparently, although Browne (Kennedy's co-criminal) claimed that he was at home in bed with his wife on the night of the murder, which his wife substantiated, his landlady also also agreed and made a statement saying that he was at home that evening. However, she was never called as a witness in the trial and so her evidence was not heard.

[ebobby]

The murder makes for fascinating reading and I have found the case in my Encyclopaedia of Executions in the 20th Century.

Apparently, although Browne (Kennedy's co-criminal) claimed that he was at home in bed with his wife on the night of the murder, which his wife substantiated, his landlady also also agreed and made a statement saying that he was at home that evening. However, she was never called as a witness in the trial and so her evidence was not heard.

It tells you that Kennedy may have acted alone in the link I posted. There are a number of difrent versions of what happened on there, but non mention his wife so thanks for that. will have to look that up.

[Mutley]

For anyone interested in Essex police,
There is quite a bit about the case on the Essex Police Memorial Trust site (as given in the link above).
There are also mentions of other deceased police officers from Essex.
www.
essex.police.uk/memorial/roll-of-honour.php?rollOfHonourId=35