by Andrew Cook
DS McArthur’s report refers to Wilson’s arrest:
On 22 August 1963, Charles Frederick Wilson, CRO 5010/54, aged 31 years, a greengrocer of 45 Crescent Lane, Clapham, London, SW4, was arrested. At 12.55 pm Detective Sergeant Nigel Reid of the Flying Squad, New Scotland Yard, was waiting at Wilson’s home, when Wilson entered.34
According to Reid’s report, Wilson:
… came into the house shortly after we arrived. I told him that we were police officers. I asked him to wait in the sitting room of his house until Inspector Byers returned. At about 20 minutes past one, Inspector Byers came into the room. He said to Wilson, ‘Are you Charles Frederick Wilson?’ Wilson replied, ‘Yes that’s right.’ The Inspector then said, ‘I am Detective Inspector Byers of the Flying Squad and I want to see you in connection with the mail train robbery. You know the one the Press have been writing about which took place at Cheddington.’ Wilson replied, ‘I know what you mean. I’ve never been there. I understand about it.’ The Inspector then said, ‘Although you’ve never been there, I want to search your house. And I want you to accompany me to Cannon Row Police Station for further enquiries to be made’.
Inspector Byers and the other officer left the room and started to search Wilson’s house. Wilson remained with me in the living room at the front of the house. As we were there he switched on the record player and after a while he said to me, ‘Can you tell me the strength of this?’ I said, ‘I can’t as we are only carrying out instructions to bring you in for further enquiries to be made.’ He said, ‘You are taking me in then? It must be something strong for you to do that.’ He said nothing more which was relevant. Soon after that Inspector Byers and the other officers came back after having searched the house. I and the other officers took Wilson to the Police Station. Just as we were coming from the living room to the passage of Wilson’s house, he turned and shouted to his wife who was through in the kitchen, ‘Ring him won’t you’ and she answered, ‘You bet’. I got into a police car with Inspector Byers and Wilson and some other police officers. As we were on the way Inspector Byers said to Wilson, ‘You are going to Scotland Yard and not the local station because this is a big job.’ Wilson said, ‘What put you on to me? Not as though you would tell me.’ Inspector Byers did not reply. A short while afterwards Wilson said, ‘I didn’t think you would.’35
It is significant that this thorough search of Wilson’s home was carried out without a search warrant.36 Neither was Wilson cautioned, either at his home or in the police car taking him to Scotland Yard.37 The ‘other officer’ Reid referred to was DS John Vaughan. His statement gives precise details about the nature of the search carried out at 45 Crescent Lane:
In the first floor rear bedroom, from a wardrobe, I took possession of a pair of black crepe soled shoes ‘John White’ make, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of Police issue trousers. In the ground floor lounge, from the rear of a cushion where I had seen Wilson sitting, I took possession of a key. I also searched the garden at the rear of the house, and from the remains of a bonfire situated in the centre of the garden about eight feet from the rear of the building, I took possession of pieces of burnt cloth and also samples of the ashes and soil of the bonfire. The same day I handed the shoes, two pairs of trousers, pieces of burnt cloth, and the remains of bonfire to Dr Holden. I also handed the key to Chief Superintendent Butler.38
On arrival at Scotland Yard, Wilson was interviewed by DS Tommy Butler:
On the 22 August 1963, at 2.50 pm, in company with Chief Inspector Baldock, I saw Charles Wilson detained in the cells at Cannon Row Police Station. I said, ‘I’m Chief Superintendent Butler and this is Chief Inspector Baldock. On my instructions you have been brought here in connection with the mail robbery at Cheddington, Bucks, on the 8 August, 1963. From my enquiries I have reason to believe that you and other persons are responsible for this offence. Do you know Cheddington in Buckinghamshire? Wilson replied, ‘No, I have never been there in my life’. I said, ‘Do you know Leatherslade Farm, near Oakley, Buckinghamshire?’ Wilson said, ‘No, I have never been there in my life, but I have read about these places in the newspapers’. I said, ‘Would you care to tell me where you were on the morning of the 8 August, 1963?’ Wilson replied, ‘I was in Spitalfields Market. I left home about 5 am’. I said, ‘Have you any receipts or proof of business done?’ Wilson replied, ‘No, they don’t give receipts. I saw a few friends there though’. I pointed out the location of Leatherslade Farm and its surroundings. Wilson said, ‘Yes, I have seen it all in the papers. I’m telling you, I have never been there in my life. Nobody can say I have’. I said, ‘Are you quite certain that what you are saying is correct, because I have reason to think it is not’. Wilson replied, ‘You obviously know a lot; I have made a ricket somewhere, but I’ll have to take my chances’.
I said, ‘You will be detained and taken to Aylesbury Police Station, where you will be charged in being concerned with others in robbing a Travelling Post Office train at Cheddington on the 8 August 1963. Wilson was cautioned, and he said, ‘I don’t know how you can make it stick without the poppy and you won’t find that’. Later, Wilson was charged and formally cautioned at Aylesbury Police Station, and replied, ‘Not guilty, that’s all’. Just prior to having his fingerprints taken, I said to him, ‘I understand that you have an interest in a greengrocery business at High Street, Penge, which is run for you by someone else; what do you sell there?’ I cautioned him and he replied, ‘Fruit and vegetables, of course’. I said, ‘Do you sell any tinned goods?’ He replied, ‘No, I don’t think so’. I said, ‘Don’t you know what you are selling at the shop?’ and he replied, ‘I think we sell a bit of tinned fruit, that’s about all’. I said, ‘Do you sell groceries of any type?’ He replied, ‘No nothing like that. Why are you asking me? You can go there and see for yourself.’39
Wilson flatly denied making the now famous quote about not knowing ‘how you can make it stick without the poppy’. This quasi-admission was certainly totally out of character for Wilson.40 So-called ‘verballing’ (i.e. fabricating quotes used in police statements) by police officers was relatively common at this time.41
This was not the first occasion on which a suspect’s home had been searched without a warrant. Although no fingerprint evidence had been found at the farm to incriminate Gordon Goody, and although his details were not included in the 22 August police media appeal, he remained on the suspects list due to his known association with some of the other suspects. The week before officers searched Charlie Wilson’s home without a warrant, they had searched the home of Goody’s mother, again without a warrant. Goody took this as a sign that the police were determined to nail him and dropped out of circulation. He moved into an old bolt-hole above the Windmill Public House in Blackfriars. On the day of Wilson’s arrest, Goody borrowed the landlord’s car and set off for Leicester, by way of the M1, to meet a girlfriend. Before leaving he wrote a letter addressed to a police officer who had been involved in the London Airport robbery the previous year:42
22/8/63
Dear Sir
No doubt you will be surprised to hear from me after my double trial at the Old Bailey for the London Airport Robbery.
At the time of writing I am not living at my home address because it seems that I am a suspect in the recent train robbery. Two Flying Squad officers recently visited my home address whilst I was out, and made a search of the premises and honestly Mr Osborne, I am now very worried that they connect me with this crime. The reason I write to you now is because you always treated me in a straight forward manner during the Airport Case. I will never forget how fair and just yourself and Mr Field were towards me.
That case took nearly eight months to finish and every penny I had, and to become a suspect in the last big robbery is more than I can stand.
So my intentions are to keep out of harm’s way until the people concerned in the train robbery are found.
To some people this letter would seem like a sign of guilt, but all I am
interested in is keeping my freedom.
Hoping these few lines find you and Mr Field in the best of health.
Yours faithfully
D G Goody43
The car broke down in Cranfield, near Bedford, but Goody eventually got to Leicester in a hire car. While staying at the Grand Hotel, he was ironically mistaken for Bruce Reynolds (whose photograph had been in the papers that morning) and the Leicester police were called. Goody was taken to Leicester police headquarters to await the arrival of Chief Inspector Peter Vibart of the Flying Squad, who reported:
At 3.15 pm on Friday, 23 August 1963, in company with Detective Sergeant Read, I went to Leicester City Police Headquarters where I saw Douglas Gordon Goody. I said to him, ‘I am assisting in enquiries regarding the mail robbery which occurred at Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, on 8 August 1963. Where were you at about 3.00 am on that night?’ He replied, ‘I was about’. I said to him, ‘Have you ever been to Leatherslade Farm at Brill in Buckinghamshire’, and he replied, ‘That’s a funny old question, is he (pointing to D/Sergeant Read) all right, have you been to the Windmill and seen Alexander because it was his car I had when I was having it away. I have been staying there since they turned the “Old Lady” over’. I then said to him, ‘I know you were using his motor car when it broke down in Bedford and that you later travelled to Leicester by hired car to meet a Miss Perkins but why were you using the name of Alexander and his vehicle? You have two motor cars, a Jaguar and a Ford Zodiac of your own’. He replied, ‘Did you see the smudges in the paper? I wouldn’t have got a hundred yards in mine. I thought if I was with the bird it would take the dairy off’. I said, ‘Are you telling me you were implicated in the mail robbery because known associates of yours are now wanted for interview?’ He replied, ‘Look. I was away out of it over the water on the Green Isle so you can’t fit me in’. I said, ‘Do you mean you were in Ireland on the 8 August 1963?’ He replied, ‘I am not trying to be awkward but I am not saying where I was as alibis are alibis, Mr Vibart.’ I then said, ‘Would it not be a simple matter to tell me where you were on the 8 August as you are aware a great deal of publicity has been given to the mail train robbery’. He replied, ‘I had to get away for a month or two as the smokes empty. They’ve all had it away so what could I do? - stand around and mow the lawn till you came and laid bands on me, so I borrowed the car and phoned the bird; I borrowed a “flim” from her. I am skint, what do you think I buried it?’ The interview was then concluded.
At 6.00 pm the same day I again saw Goody and said to him, ‘I have seen Miss Margaret Perkins and although you have not seen her since last July you had arranged to send her some postcards from Ireland to an address of a friend nearby. These have now been destroyed but according to Miss Perkins the last card was received on Thursday, the day of the robbery’. He replied, ‘That puts me there doesn’t it’. I then said to Goody, ‘I am not satisfied with your explanation and you will now be taken back to Aylesbury Police Station pending further enquires’. He replied, ‘My brief will be there, I have arranged if I don’t turn up for the necessary to be done’. I then returned with him to Aylesbury Police Station where he was detained.
At about 12 midnight on the 23 August 1963 with D/Chief Superintendent Butler, I again saw Goody at Aylesbury Police Station. Superintendent Butler said to him, ‘I understand you were detained at Leicester having travelled as far as Bedford in a motor car belonging to someone else and you were using the name of Alexander. Would you care to explain these facts?’ He replied, ‘I was going to keep out of the way until things died down. Them blokes who are all in the paper are friends of mine and that puts me in it and all according to you’. Mr Butler then asked, ‘What do you mean by that?’ He said, ‘Because of the aggravations over the Airport job and I had to sweat for eight months.’ Mr Butler then said, ‘That matter is over and done with. I would like you to tell us what your movements were on the 7/8 August, as that is the reason for your being brought here, as you well know’. Goody was silent for a few moments and then said, ‘Look, I want to think about that; I am tired because I didn’t have much sleep last night what with these aggravations and all.’ He was then informed by the Superintendent that he would be detained and he replied, ‘So I’ll be detained, see you later’.
At about 1.00 pm on the 24 August I was present when Goody was seen by Superintendent Butler at Aylesbury police station, Mr Butler said to him, ‘You have had ample time to think about the matter we discussed last night. Would you now tell us of your movements and your location on the 7/8 August?’ He replied;,’I was touring Ireland doing a bit of fishing and shooting’. He was then asked, ‘Where did you stay whilst you were there?’ He replied, ‘I can’t tell you that; if I am charged it will be part of my defence’. Mr Butler then said, ‘If you were in Ireland as you say then it follows you were not at Leatherslade Farm that night doesn’t it?’ He replied (indicating myself), ‘He mentioned that yesterday; I don’t know the place. What would I be doing on a farm?’ The Superintendent then said, ‘You could be there preparing for the commission of this very serious offence or taking part in the division of the proceeds of it’. He replied, ‘You don’t expect me to admit that do you?’
Superintendent Butler then said to him, ‘I suspect you were at Leatherslade Farm at the time already mentioned’. He replied, ‘Nobody saw me there; I’ll stand on any ID parade you like to put up.’ Mr Butler then said to him, ‘It may come to that. In the meantime enquiries are still in progress and we will see you later in the day.’ The interview was then concluded.
At 11.45 pm on Saturday 24 August 1963 with D/Chief Superintendent Butler I again saw Goody and Mr Butler said to him, ‘It has been said by you that on the 8 August 1963, the date of the mail robbery, you were in Ireland. I have now ascertained that you travelled by air to Belfast on the 2 August 1963 with your mother and a man named Knowles and stayed with a relative, but you returned alone on Tuesday 6 August 1963 leaving Knowles and your mother there. These two persons returned home on Wednesday 7 August 1963 and both travelling in the name of Goody’ – Goody interrupted and said, ‘Look, I am saying nothing more; I’ll have to see my mouthpiece; he will fit me up with something else’.
At 12.15 am on 25 August, 1963, Goody was released on the undertaking that he again returned to Aylesbury police station on Saturday 7 September 1963. He was taken to his home by police transport.44
With apparently no fingerprint evidence against him, Goody was optimistic that his luck would hold. However, the police were convinced that he was not only involved but had played a major role in the commission of the crime. A key police informant had come forward and mentioned Goody by name, and had also given groundbreaking new information which was to open up a whole new angle for the investigation.
Notes
1. For Roger Cordrey it was a double irony, for he was one of the few robbers at Leatherslade Farm who had kept his gloves on for the full duration of the three days he spent at the farm. Indeed, when the exhaustive fingerprint search was completed by the police, no trace of any print belonging to Cordrey was found at the farm. Had it not been for his chance encounter with Emily Clarke he would most likely have evaded detection and arrest; DPP 2/3723, part 2 of 3 (originally closed until 2045; redacted version opened 25/6/10).
2. HO 287/1496 (originally closed until 1995; opened 1996).
3. DPP 2/3718, part 2 of 6 (originally closed until 2045; redacted version opened 25/6/10).
4. Before his arrest, Cordrey had given the Pilgrims £860 in £5 notes and Rene Boal £330 in £5 and £1 notes from his share of the stolen money.
5. HO 287/1496 (originally closed until 1995; opened 1996).
6. DPP 2/3717, Report 11(originally closed until 2045; redacted version opened on 25/6/10); DPP 2/3718, 1 of 6, part 2 (originally closed until 2045; redacted version opened 25/6/10); Inspector Roberts’s report appears on p. 258 of this file – the whole of the following page, 259, remains closed until 2045. McArthur’s report in DPP 2/3717/
1 (originally closed until 2045; redacted version opened 25/6/10) is also redacted in respect to Charles Lilley, although an unredacted copy is to be found in POST 120/96 (closed until 1993; opened 1994).
7. POST 120/95 (originally closed until 2001; opened 2002). Without a definitive fingerprint report, a theoretical compilation list was the best that could be done at this stage of the investigation.
8. Henry George Pitts, of East Lane, Walworth, London SE, (CRO File 30286/51) – sentenced to an eight-year jail term in 1958, Pitts died of tuberculosis, aged 51, at Parkhurst Prison, Isle of Wight on 10 November 1962.
9. Michael David Kehoe, a car hirer of Barry Road, East Dulwich, London SE, (CRO File 20937/54) – eliminated as a suspect. A known associate of Anthony Thomas Lucraft (see note 16, Chapter 3), whose name had been mentioned by another informant in connection with other mail offences.
10. Terence Michael Sansom, a car dealer of Leighton Gardens, Kensal Rise, London NW (CRO File 34126/52) – eliminated as a suspect. Was found not guilty of the non-capital murder of James Hawney, a guard, after a £9,400 bus payroll hold-up in Wimbledon on 26 January 1961.