Barry Prudom

Barry Peter Prudom (18 October 1944 – 4 July 1982) was an English electrician and multiple murderer, known as The Phantom in the Forest, who became the subject of a police manhunt 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 David Winter on 28 June 1982.

Described as an "avid outdoorsman and firearms enthusiast" Prudom's knowledge of military survival skills 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 son of Kathleen Edwards, a Leeds dressmaker, and Peter Kurylo, a soldier serving with the British Army. 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 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 in Aycliffe Village, County Durham for housebreaking. After leaving school, Prudom commenced an apprenticeship and trained as an electrician. 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 force. The unit specialised in covert surveillance, reconnaissance and "stay-behind" operations. Prudom was eventually rejected by the unit as he was considered temperamentally 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 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 Arabiahis 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, 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 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 calibre Beretta 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 ... 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 on a poacher in the Washburn Valley near Harrogate, North Yorkshire. 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. 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 calibre 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, which police ascertained had been the subject of a cash sale to an unknown man at Kingsbury, 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, around 25 miles from the scene of Haigh's murder.

20 June – Robbery of Freda Jackson

After abandoning the Citroën, Prudom had hitchhiked and walked to Torksey, 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. 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 car, registration VAU 875S and then drove to Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire. At some point he stole registration plates from another car, CYG 344T, and attached them to the Rover.

When North Yorkshire Police 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 and Lincolnshire Police 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, 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 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 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 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. After then firing at a ''Guardian'' journalist and a BBC
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