Barry Peter Prudom (18 October 1944 – 4 July 1982) was an English
electrician
An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...
and multiple murderer, known as The Phantom in the Forest, who became the subject of a police
manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
and what was at the time the largest armed police operation Great Britain had ever seen, involving 12 police forces.
Prudom became a fugitive after killing
PC David Haigh on 17 June 1982. Before being captured he killed twice more, shooting civilian George Luckett on 23 June 1982 and
Police Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
David Winter on 28 June 1982.
Described as an "avid outdoorsman and firearms enthusiast" Prudom's knowledge of military
survival skills
Survival skills are techniques that a person may use in order to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life which include water, food, and shelte ...
learned while training with the
SAS helped him evade capture for 18 days as he hid out in rural areas in the north of England.
When eventually found, having been tracked by "Jungle" Eddie McGee, a former
SAS instructor, Prudom committed suicide by firing a single shot to his head.
It later transpired that Prudom had previously attended survival courses run by McGee, and had made extensive study of a manual on survival techniques written by the SAS veteran, entitled ''No Need To Die''.
Early life
Prudom was the
illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
son of Kathleen Edwards, a
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
dressmaker
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and gown, evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua (clothing), mantua-makers, and are also known as a mod ...
, and Peter Kurylo, a soldier serving with the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. Kurylo played no part in Prudom's upbringing and the two never met. The family home was at 39 Grosvenor Place, Leeds, and Prudom attended Blenheim Primary school and
Meanwood
Meanwood is a suburb and former village in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
The area sits in the Moortown ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency.
Origins and history
The name Meanwood goes back t ...
Secondary School. Although born Barry Edwards, his name was changed to Barry Prudom in 1949 when his mother married Alex Prudom.
He was briefly sent to an
approved school
An approved school was a type of residential institution in the United Kingdom to which young people could be sent by a court, usually for committing offences but sometimes because they were deemed to be beyond parental control. They were modelle ...
in
Aycliffe Village,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly About North East E ...
for
housebreaking
Housebreaking (American English) or house-training (British English) is the process of training a domesticated animal that lives with its human owners in a house or other residence to excrete (urinate and defecate) outdoors, or in a designated i ...
.
After leaving school, Prudom commenced an
apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
and trained as an
electrician
An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...
. In October 1965 he married Gillian Wilson, who was then aged 19 years. There were two children from the marriage, a daughter born in 1966, and a son in 1970.
Prudom's mother died in a drowning accident while on holiday in 1973.
Service with special forces
In 1969 Prudom enlisted with Leeds-based
B Squadron, 23 Special Air Service (V), part of the Army's part-time volunteer
Territorial
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
force.
The unit specialised in covert
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
, reconnaissance and "
stay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case an enemy occupies that territory. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement or act as sp ...
" operations. Prudom was eventually rejected by the unit as he was considered
temperament
In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes.
Some researchers point to association of temperam ...
ally unsuitable and disliked discipline.
It is unknown which stage he had reached in the
selection phase, which for the Territorials is spread over a
longer period, although he did participate in training manoeuvres with the unit.
An official statement revealed only that he had "failed the final initiative test".
Marital breakdown
Prudom subsequently established himself as a grocer, and purchased a shop for his wife on Quarry Street, Leeds, but by 1977 he was working for the
petroleum industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
in Saudi Arabia to earn more money.
While he was there his wife left him for another man.
Police later disclosed that "While he was
n Saudi Arabia
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
his wife formed a liaison with another man and he got a 'Dear John' letter, which must have had a traumatic effect on him. From being a very stable hard working man, he became morose and irritable, and he was even more annoyed when he returned to England and found his wife had taken £8000 from the bank account".
Between 1977 and 1982 Prudom dated Carol Francis and the two travelled extensively as he took work on oil rigs in Canada and the USA. In January 1982 while Prudom was in
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, West Yorkshire, he was arrested for a violent assault on a motorist with an iron bar, and used his alias of Barry Edwards.
After failing to attend
Leeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court, more accurately the Crown Court at Leeds, is a venue of the Crown Court in West Yorkshire, England. The buildings are situated on Westgate in Leeds city centre, adjacent to Leeds magistrates courts.
Notable cases As Leeds As ...
to answer bail, a
warrant was issued for his arrest.
Francis had by now left Prudom and moved out of the house in Leeds where they had been living.
Illegal possession of firearms
Prudom did not hold a licence to possess firearms, but carried a
.22 LR
The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...
calibre
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and militar ...
Model 71 "Jaguar" pistol, which he had purchased in the US and smuggled back into Britain.
The Model 71 was a virtually recoilless, lightweight and easily concealed pistol, described as "the signature terminator pistol of
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
... a compact, accurate and flawlessly reliable performer that could easily be used to quickly and accurately deliver multiple rounds into vital parts of a human body".
Timeline
17 June – Murder of PC David Haigh
After commencing duty at 06:00 on 17 June 1982, PC David Haigh, aged 29, was attempting to serve a
summons
A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...
on a
poacher
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
in the
Washburn Valley near
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
.
When Haigh failed to respond to a radio call from his station at Harrogate, PC Mick Clipston was sent to check on his whereabouts, and discovered his patrol car at a picnic site at
Norwood Edge near
Beckwithshaw
Beckwithshaw is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England about south-west of Harrogate.
History
Beckwithshaw takes its name from the now smaller settlement of Beckwith, to the east. The suffix "shaw" ...
.
The door of the car was still open and PC Haigh's body was next to it, having been killed by a single
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smo ...
calibre
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
pistol shot to the head.
Haigh's clipboard was found, on which he had written "Clive Jones, born 18/10/44, Leeds
NFA" followed by a vehicle
registration number, KYF 326P.
Having cleared the poacher and a Leeds man called Clive Jones of involvement, police launched a murder investigation, headed by North Yorkshire Police's
Assistant Chief Constable, David Burke.
The registration number recorded by Haigh belonged to a metallic green
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
, which police ascertained had been the subject of a cash sale to an unknown man at
Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent
** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station
* Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...
, London in January 1982, and a witness came forward to say that he had seen the car parked at the murder location at approximately 06:35 on 17 June.
19 June – Car discovered
Prudom's Citroën was discovered burned out in a cornfield near
Ledsham, West Yorkshire
Ledsham is a village and civil parish north of Castleford and east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough and near to the A1 Great North Road. It has a population of 162, ...
, around 25 miles from the scene of Haigh's murder.
20 June – Robbery of Freda Jackson
After abandoning the Citroën, Prudom had
hitchhiked
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free.
Nomads hav ...
and walked to
Torksey
__NOTOC__
Torksey is a small village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 875. It is situated on the A156 road, south of Gainsborough and north-west of the city of L ...
, Lincolnshire, where on 20 June he broke into a house and tied up the elderly occupant, 75-year-old Freda Jackson.
He stole
£4.50 from her then left, saying later that he had been unconcerned about her welfare as he knew "the bread man would find her in the morning".
The robbery was not connected to Prudom until 23 June.
23 June – Murder of George Luckett
Just before dawn on 23 June he broke into another home approximately 8 miles away in
Girton, Nottinghamshire
Girton is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 143, reducing slightly to 140 at the 2011 Census. It is located 17 miles west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln.
The St Cecilia ...
.
The occupants, George Luckett, 52, an electrician, and his wife Sylvia, 50, were tied together at the elbows and both were shot once in the head.
George Luckett's wound was fatal but Sylvia Luckett survived, although she was left with permanent brain damage and no clear recollection of the incident.
After Prudom left the scene, Mrs Luckett managed to crawl to a nearby house and raise the alarm with neighbours.
Prudom took the Lucketts' brown-coloured
Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
car, registration VAU 875S and then drove to
Dalby Forest
Dalby Forest is a forest located on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. It is maintained by Forestry England. Dalby Forest, along with Langdale Forest and Cropton Forest, forms part of the No ...
, North Yorkshire. At some point he stole registration plates from another car, CYG 344T, and attached them to the Rover.
When
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...
received details of the Girton murder and of the Torksey robbery they concluded that the same man was responsible and the incident rooms at
Nottinghamshire Police
Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million. ...
and
Lincolnshire Police
Lincolnshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. Despite the name, the force's area does not include North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, which ...
were connected to the North Yorkshire computer to allow the three forces to share and compare information relating to the investigations.
24 June – Attempted murder of PC Oliver
Prudom was stopped during a routine check in the Bickley area of Dalby Forest, approximately 8 miles from
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...
, on 24 June by police
dog handler PC Ken Oliver. When Oliver asked him to step out of the vehicle, Prudom opened fire with his .22 pistol, the first round hitting the officer's face. As Prudom got out of the car to fire again, the police dog reacted by attacking Prudom, giving Oliver a chance to run for cover in a nearby house, and of the seven bullets that hit him none was fatal. The dog was shot twice and wounded, but also survived.
Prudom then smashed the radio
transceiver
In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...
in Oliver's van and drove it a short distance into the forest before returning and setting fire to the Rover. He then headed into the forest and went to ground once more.
Within hours a huge manhunt had commenced in the forest, involving
police marksmen, helicopters and one thousand police officers on foot.
As darkness fell the search was halted, although police maintained a cordon around the forest throughout the night.
25–26 June – Police search Dalby Forest
The search of the forest commenced again at daybreak on 25 June and again on 26 June but despite maintaining a cordon throughout police were unable to find any sign of Prudom.
28 June – Identification of Prudom, murder of PS David Winter
Although Prudom had given Haigh a false name and no address, he had given his true date of birth, and another officer, PC Martin Hatton, who was cross checking outstanding arrest warrants made the connection between PC Haigh's written note and the birth date of "Barry Edwards".
The police searched the address given by "Edwards" and established he was actually Barry Prudom, "a keep-fit fanatic, obsessed with weapons and the military".
During the search they also found Eddie McGee's ''No Need To Die'' manual detailing
special forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
survival techniques.
Oliver was able to identify his assailant as Prudom from photographs, and
latent fingerprints on the burned out vehicle found near Leeds were found to be those of Prudom.
Ballistic tests proved that the same gun had been used in the killings of Haigh and Luckett, and the police released Prudom's name to the media as their
prime suspect
''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
and the most wanted man in Britain.
At 14:00, Police Sergeant David Winter, 31, and PC Mick Wood received information about a suspicious man seen in the village of
Old Malton, North Yorkshire, 200 yards from the village police station.
Winter challenged Prudom, who produced his pistol and opened fire. Although Winter tried to take cover behind a low wall, he was pursued by Prudom and shot three times and killed, the final shot fired from
point-blank range
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
. After then firing at a ''
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'' journalist and a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
news crew, Prudom escaped from the scene through a nearby alley.
Heavy rain hampered the search efforts for the next two days, and despite the presence of 600 officers, including 100 armed officers, the use of dogs and the
helicopters, Prudom eluded capture.
Eddie McGee (c.1938–2002), nicknamed "Jungle Eddie" by colleagues, was a former
.
Having completed 22 years of service, McGee had retired from the Army and now operated the National School of Survival, a survival training school near Harrogate.
He had authored five books on the subject, and ''No Need To Die'' was considered a "bible" for enthusiasts of personal survival studies.
groups in Africa.
He was married with two sons, both of whom were serving police officers in Yorkshire.
Chief Constable Henshaw said of the development "Now we have somebody looking for him with even more skill in the art of evasion and survival than Barry Edwards has. I am confident we are going to find him".
McGee and a colleague, Eric Longden, joined the manhunt at Dalby Forest, and then moved on to Malton, where they followed tracks from Winter's body through the town's Old Manor Moor,
and Low Hutton areas, escorted by an armed police bodyguard from the Central Firearms Unit. After several hours, the search moved suddenly back to Dalby Forest when police were informed that a camouflaged
plantation.
Chief Constable Kenneth Henshaw ordered "the largest arsenal of weapons ever issued to a British police force" and placed a cordon around Malton, sealing off the town.
Although certain that Prudom was still hiding somewhere in the town, police gave regular briefings to the media saying that they were searching for him in Dalby Forest. Inspector Peter Walker later explained: "We wanted him to believe we were seeking him elsewhere. The safety of the public was uppermost in our minds. The media reports were invaluable because they led Prudom to believe that the hunt was concentrated outside the town in Dalby Forest".
For several days Prudom hid in the countryside around the town; on 3 July, he entered the home of
Maurice Johnson in East Mount, Malton, and took him, his wife Bessie and their son Brian as hostages. He ate a meal in the Johnsons' home, which he described as the "last supper", and hid out at the house for 11 hours.
"As the night went on, we got talking as though we had known each other for years. He was calling me Brian and my father he was calling dad". Prudom gave Brian Johnson a gift of a
ring, and then, believing the area was relatively safe, tied up the family and left the house at 03:15 on 4 July.
Having learned from television reports that McGee was assisting the police, Prudom set a false trail leading away from the Johnson home, then headed back and hid in a makeshift shelter near Malton's Tennis Club, only 300 yards from the police station which was also the temporary headquarters co-ordinating the manhunt.
Around two hours later the Johnsons had managed to free themselves and called the police. McGee picked up Prudom's trail at the Johnson residence, and noticed disturbances of fresh
on the grass which led him to where Prudom was hiding.
, led by Chief Inspector David Clarkson, was called to the scene and Prudom was told to give himself up.
were thrown by the police and, on hearing a gunshot from Prudom's location, Clarkson ordered his officers to open fire.
When firing subsided, Prudom was found dead in the hideout.
Michael Oakley. The
, who reported that there were a total of 21 penetrating shotgun wounds to Prudom's body which had "insufficient velocity to enter the
", a .22 bullet fired into the right side of his head which was consistent with a self-inflicted wound, and a further shotgun pellet which had entered through his forehead. Both of the head wounds would have caused instant loss of consciousness and possibly instant death. Oakley summed up the evidence to the jury by saying: "I would submit to you that there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that he fired the shot that killed himself", and the jury took just 18 minutes to return a verdict of suicide.
in Harehills Cemetery, Leeds.
PC Ken Oliver was subsequently awarded a commendation for bravery.
The manhunt for Prudom has been the subject of at least one television documentary:
*''Manhunt: Phantom in the Forest'' – First aired on Britain's
27 June 2002.
wrote a song titled "Barry Prudom", which was released on 24 September 1983 as the B-side of their ''Rapist'' EP, featuring the lyrics: "Barry Prudom, Barry Prudom, He's coming for you with his gun, Barry Prudom, Barry Prudom, He's Public Enemy number one".