George Andrew Campbell McMahon (c.1902 – 1970), also known as Jerome Bannigan, was convicted for his failed

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

attempt against King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

of the United Kingdom at

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in 1936.

Early life and career

McMahon was born as Jerome Bannigan in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

, on the outskirts of

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. His parents were natives of

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, Ireland. He was a keen

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in his youth until he suffered a hip injury at the age of twelve. Bannigan relocated to London from around 1926 and engaged in social work. He began to pass on information to

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. Bannigan changed his name to George Andrew Campbell McMahon from 1933. McMahon was a low-level fraudster and gun-runner to

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

when he came to the Italians' attention. They offered him cash for information about armaments. He was a paid informant for the Security Service (later MI5) by 1935.

1936 incident

On 16 July 1936, as Edward VIII

rode Rode may refer to: People *Ajmer Rode, Canadian writer *Bernd Michael Rode (born 1946), Austrian chemistry professor *Bernhard Rode (1725–1797), German painter *Ebbe Rode (1910–1998), Danish stage and film actor *Franc Rode (born 1934), Slove ...

through Hyde Park, following the

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ceremony, McMahon produced a revolver. Bystanders—including a Mrs Alice Lawrence, who was standing next to McMahon—and members of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

reportedly subdued McMahon, after a struggle, during which the unfired revolver fell near the king's horse as it continued down Constitution Hill. McMahon later stated in a 40-page document entitled "He Was My King" that he was hired by the Italian embassy in London to kill the King, but he deliberately botched the assassination attempt. His attempts to contact the security service and the Home Office had failed. McMahon was subsequently sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour on 14 September 1936, for possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

References

External links

The Independent: I was paid £150 to shoot the King, claimed caretaker

Newsreel of assassination attempt on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, George 1970 deaths Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales 1936 crimes in the United Kingdom 1930s crimes in London Failed regicides 1936 in England Scottish journalists Scottish people of Irish descent People from Govan Year of birth uncertain