England
PRUDOM
Barry Peter
Active in 1982 in Hastings, East Sussex, England
DID YOU KNOW...
Hunting Fact
His manhunt was the largest armed police operation Great Britain had ever seen at the time
Conspiracy Fact
Media outlined a conspiracy theory which involved Prudom, communication towers and Saudi Arabia
THE DISPATCH
The Murders
David Ian Haigh
- June 17, 1982
- Harrogate
David Haigh was a 29-year-old village constable in Norwood Edge, Harrogate. On June 17, 1982, Haigh pulled into a picnic spot and got out of his car to speak to a group of men. The area was popular with poachers. He was shot in the head within minutes.
He was found by other officers after failing to respond to a radio check call. Constables swarmed the area and arrested a man, but continued their search for the shooter.
Sylvia and George Thomas Luckett
- June 23, 1982
- Girton, Newark, Nottinghamshire
Three days after the first murder, Prudom tricked his way into the home of Freda Jackson, 75, in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Her tied the widow up, held her for a few hours and eventually fled with £4.50.
George and Sylvia Luckett lived in an isolated bungalow on Glen Holt Gainsborough Road. On June 22, 1982, Prudom broke into their home and held the couple hostage before shooting them both. George died, but unknown to Prudom, Sylvia survived being shot in the head. Prudom fled in their brown Rover.
Sylvia managed to crawl across the field between her and the neighbour and get help. Police swarmed the scene, gathering evidence and looking for the gunman. They quickly determined the gun used to shoot the couple was the same gun used to shoot Haigh.
George was 55, Sylvia was 52.
Ken Oliver, Survivor
- June 24, 1982
- Dalby Forest, near Pickering
Police dog handler Ken Oliver joined in the massive police hunt for the fugitive. On June 24, 1982, Oliver began to approach the brown Rover that Prudom had used to flee to the North Yorkshire forest. Prudom fired seven times at Oliver. One of the bullets ripped through Oliver’s uniform, grazing his arm. The others missed him. Prudom stole Oliver’s dog van but quickly abandoned it. He set fire to the Rover and fled into Langford Forest.
David Thomas Winter
- June 28, 1982
- Malton, Yorkshire
The manhunt for the unnamed murderer was intensifying. Police warned that the end of the hunt could be “as disastrous for him as for his victims.” They reconstructed Constable Haigh’s route before his death, driving a car along his route. Following that car was a second car with a loudspeaker, calling out for information from the public.
On June 28, 1982, Sergeant David Thomas Winter spotted a suspicious man walking out of the village post office. As he approached, the man shot him. The next day, police publicly named their suspect: Barry Prudom.
The funeral service for the 31-year-old sergeant was held less than 100 yards from when he was murdered.
Prudom’s Death
The killer was on the run. He holed up in a home after taking the Johnson family hostage. The police station was 250 yards (229 metres) away. After two days, Prudom left the Johnson’s bound but unharmed and fled. One family member freed himself and called police.
Authorities brought in former paratrooper Eddie McGee to track Prudom. They had found a copy of McGee’s survivalist book among Prudom’s possessions. On July 4, 1982, they tracked Prudom to a hiding place at a tennis club in East Mount, Malton. He took cover behind a low wall with a machete, a .22 pistol and 1000 rounds of ammunition on a duffle bag.
Surrounding the area, police lobbed stun-grenades, but they had little effect. After a volley of gunfire, police waited. After five minutes, one shot, then more shots rang out. Eventually, police approached Prudom. After poking at him with a pole, they declared the killer dead. He had shot himself to avoid capture.
“The coppers were laughing, shouting and slapping each other on the back, making thumbs-up signs and saying they’d got him,” shootout witness Chris Burd told the Daily Mirror.
Prudom was buried in an unmarked grave on August 26, 1982
BOOK
One books which includes Barry Prudom
The Story of Real Life Police Murders by Nigel Wier
Publisher : Authorhouse UK (Aug. 31 2011)
Language : English
Paperback : 136 pages
ISBN-10 : 1456779583
ISBN-13 : 978-1456779580
This book is about the murders of police officers in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War till the modern day. You will see that all the murders are horrific and without any justification against the people will ask to police our streets. You will see that most of the officers are unarmed and all our brave. The murderer does not distinguish between the ranks of the police officers as you will see in this book, it appears that he kills with malice with no thought for anyone apart from himself. I hope the book gives you a little insight into the world of a policeman and what they have to face each and every day.
ONE VIDEOS
Today I Found Out
THE STATS
Statistical table for Barry Peter Prudom
| Killer Name | PRUDOM, Barry Peter |
| Killer AKA | Barry Edwards, The Phantom in the Forest |
| Gender | M |
| Suspected Only | Yes |
| Sentence | Suicide during shoot-out with police, July 4, 1982 |
| Birth Date | October 18, 1944 |
| Death Date | July 4, 1982 |
| Deceased | Yes |
| Suicide | Yes |
| Cause of Death | Shot himself while in shootout with police |
| Military Service | Yes |
| Military Service | Army. rejected from Special Air Service (SAS) |
| Job Types | electrician |
| Labour Type | Blue |
| Sexual Preference | Straight |
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Number of Children | 2-1 son 1 daughter |
| Killer Type | Spree, Thrill killer, Territorial |
| comment1 | Trained marksman |
| comment2 | Prudom was buried in an unmarked grave in Harehills Cemetery, Leeds |
| comment3 | https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19820705/077/0017 |
| comment4 | INTERESTING https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19820706/098/0009 |
| Total Dead Victims | 3 |
| Victims (Suspected) | 3 |
| Victims (Misc) | 3 |
| Victim Gender | Various |
| Victim Race | White |
| Victim Age | 29, 55, 31 |
| Victim Type | police, stranger |
| Method of Killing | shooting |
| Weapon | gun |
| Gun Type | 0.22 |
| Efficient | Yes |
| Body - Left, Not Hidden | Yes |
| Previous Crimes | Break and enter, assault |
Killer Rating
RESOURCES
- Daily Mirror (Jun 18, 1982)
- Liverpool Echo (Jun 24, 1982)
- Daily Mirror pt. 1 (Jun 25, 1982)
- Daily Mirror pt. 2 (Jun 25, 1982)
- Daily Mirror (Jun 29, 1982)
- Daily Mirror pt 1 (Jul 5, 1982)
- Daily Mirror pt 2 (Jul 5, 1982)
- Newcastle Journal (Jul 10, 1982)
- Liverpool Echo (Aug 26, 1982)
- The Northern Echo (Jul 8, 2010)
- Zip file of all paywalled articles