From the flying squad to investigating war crimes

266 Pages·2019·18.477 MB·English

by  Ron Turnbull

FROM THE FLYING SQUAD TO
INVESTIGATING
WAR CRIMES
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 1 03/07/19 4:20 PM
To the memory of my beloved grandfather (Peter Sneddon) and my
mother Ann; my sister Irene; my long-suffering wife Sheila, who
selflessly permitted me the time and space to travel afar and complete
the quests set before me; as well as my two wonderful daughters Lorna
and Ceri, all of whom helped me to become the man I am. I’m happy
and very proud to call them my family.
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 2 03/07/19 4:20 PM
FROM THE FLYING SQUAD TO
INVESTIGATING
WAR CRIMES
EXPLOITS OF A FORMER SCOTLAND YARD DETECTIVE
From Containment of an Outbreak of Epizootic Lymphangitis in Fife to
Genocide Investigations in the Balkans
RON TURNBULL
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 3 03/07/19 4:20 PM
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by
PEN AND SWORD TRUE CRIME
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire – Philadelphia
Copyright © Ron Turnbull, 2019
Hardback ISBN: 978 1 52675 866 8
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 52676 647 2
The right of Ron Turnbull to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset in Times New Roman 11.5/14 by
Aura Technology and Software Services, India
Printed and bound in the UK
by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall, PL28 8RW
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword
Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery,
Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways,
Select, Social History, Transport, True Crime, Claymore Press,
Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Remember When,
Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Or
PEN AND SWORD BOOKS
1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.penandswordbooks.com
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 4 24/10/19 9:27 PM
Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................vii
Foreword ....................................................................................................ix
Chapter 1 Goodbye Grandad .................................................................1
Chapter 2 The Early Days ......................................................................9
Chapter 3 An Embryonic Police Career ...............................................14
Chapter 4 Outward Bound in Burghead on the Moray Firth ...............23
Chapter 5 Fife Constabulary’s First PC 600 ........................................27
Chapter 6 Dealing with my First Dead Body .......................................34
Chapter 7 Accused of Theft .................................................................38
Chapter 8 Disillusioned of Fife ............................................................42
Chapter 9 Time to Move On ................................................................49
Chapter 10 Hendon it is then .................................................................53
Chapter 11 Balham: A New Beginning .................................................54
Chapter 12 The Sweeney Days ..............................................................68
Chapter 13 Promotion: Onwards and Upwards .....................................76
Chapter 14 The ‘Maltese Mafia’ ............................................................81
Chapter 15 Back to Normal ...................................................................87
Chapter 16 Recalled to Flying Squad Duties .........................................96
Chapter 17 Blags ‘r’ Us .......................................................................107
Chapter 18 Life after the Flying Squad ...............................................113
Chapter 19 Laboratory Liaison Officer ................................................115
Chapter 20 Beaten, Raped and Left to Die in Brixton .........................125
Chapter 21 Teapot 1 .............................................................................129
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 5 03/07/19 4:20 PM
From the Flying Squad to Investigating War Crimes
Chapter 22 Crime Scene Examination on Wimbledon Common ........131
Chapter 23 Who Dares Wins ...............................................................139
Chapter 24 Political Assassination in Sri Lanka ..................................141
Chapter 25 Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) Bombs
a Bus in Aldwych ..............................................................147
Chapter 26 Bosnia Calling ...................................................................151
Chapter 27 The Village of Cerska in
Bosnia and Herzegovina ....................................................158
Chapter 28 Vukovar Hospital in Croatia ..............................................165
Chapter 29 The British Forensic Team: Kosovo 1999 .........................170
Chapter 30 The Village of Celina in Kosovo .......................................176
Chapter 31 The Village of Velika Kruša in Kosovo .............................179
Chapter 32 Lapsed Security .................................................................181
Chapter 33 Miscellany .........................................................................183
Chapter 34 Health & Safety .................................................................185
Chapter 35 Political Murder in the Republic of Zambia ......................188
Chapter 36 The BFT and I Return to Kosovo: 2000 ............................192
Chapter 37 The Start of Another Career in the United Nations ...........200
Chapter 38 All Work and No Play .......................................................203
Chapter 39 Beware of Mines ...............................................................209
Chapter 40 Fatal Bombing of the UN HQ Building
in Baghdad ........................................................................211
Chapter 41 UNICEF in Sudan .............................................................216
Chapter 42 Historical Enquiries Team (HET), part of the
Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) ............................226
Chapter 43 Remembering Srebrenica ..................................................230
Index .......................................................................................................233
vi
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 6 03/07/19 4:20 PM
Introduction
So many times over the years in my various and varied careers members
of my family, many friends and peers have urged me with the words:
‘Ron, there’s got to be a book in you.’ I pushed such thoughts away time
and time again because I was either too busy, or I didn’t think there
would be an audience that would be interested in, never mind want to
read about my exploits, or maybe the truth was that I just couldn’t be
bothered.
Autobiography is a special type of biography that follows its own
rules and may vary substantially in content, style, length and purpose.
It may concentrate on the purely professional aspects of one’s life or
dwell on the familial, political and social atmosphere of your time and
describe in detail your qualities and fallibilities as well as, hopefully in a
light-hearted way, those of colleagues. The structure of such a book can
be a series of unrelated anecdotes or simply document chronologically
and dispassionately the life experiences of an individual who carried out
the duties related to his/her job in a competent way.
Eventually, as I faced my seventh decade, I came to the realization that
a reasonable compromise would be to pen some of my more memorable
personal and professional challenges and achievements. This was not
so much for public consumption but to provide my two wonderful
daughters with a heartfelt written record so that they would come to
know more about, and hopefully better understand, where their errant
dad was, as well as what and with whom he was engaged, on the many
occasions in their lives when I probably should have spent more time
with them as they were growing up. Like many of my generation, I have
sincere regrets for not asking my late mother, or grandfather for that
matter, many more questions about their lives and personal trials and
tribulations when they were still around. Furthermore, by compiling this
missive, my own two wee worthy grandsons Harris and Jack will have
access to a point of reference in which I will have hopefully described
vii
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 7 03/07/19 4:20 PM
From the Flying Squad to Investigating War Crimes
some of the many important aspects of the social history surrounding
my lifetime if or when they want to know more about their grandad and
his generation.
Having given myself a green light to undertake this mission, I’m more
than aware that there might be inaccuracies due to lapses or failings in
my memory. However, to quote that great comedy film star Groucho
Marx, I’m not going to let the truth spoil a good story!
So, with fingers crossed, here goes…
Ron Turnbull
(Retired at last)
viii
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 8 03/07/19 4:20 PM
Foreword
The following is a wonderful account of detective work by an outstanding
practitioner of the artisan craft. It contains exciting experiences told
clearly, but also lessons for everyone who criticizes in general terms the
dedicated public servants who make a less than perfect system work for
society, those critics who find misconduct in every contested policing
interaction.
I was fortunate to serve closely with Ron Turnbull during nearly forty
years at New Scotland Yard. We first met while serving on different teams
of the Flying Squad, a prestige, specialist posting confronting serious
thieves, robbers, drug dealers, organized and disorganized criminals. Our
joy was in the hunt, arrest and conviction of these predators on society.
Ron describes his journey from Fife to this undergrowth of civilization
in London in detail and his role in a highly specialized squad.
Our next set of adventures together were with the Flying Squad again,
this time some years later at an outstation in South London as part of the
Robbery Squad (a transfiguration of the Flying Squad). Though tasked
with dealing with armed robbery, we could sometimes wangle our
investigative way into other kinds of violent and organized crime. Ron
is modest about his role here. I was present when an Old Bailey High
Court Red Judge said in Ron’s presence to an armed robbery defendant
that the only reason he was there to be sentenced was because ‘Detective
Sergeant Turnbull and Detective Constable XXX did not shoot you dead
as they would have been perfectly entitled to do.’ The judge went on to
commend the two officers for their skills and outstanding courage.
The next time our paths crossed was in intelligence where we were
involved in staff work and some practical applications; Ron was tackling
the complex protection of some of our most important but vulnerable
informers. From there he went into another aspect of intelligence, this
time the public outreach for information via Crimestoppers at its early
introduction in the UK.
ix
From_the_Flying_Squad_to_Investigating_War_Crimes_P4.indd 9 03/07/19 4:20 PM