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 ha ...

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 1 ...

of the United Kingdom at Hyde Park in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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 ...

, on the outskirts of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. His parents were natives of

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

, Ireland. He was a keen

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

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 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

) by 1935.

1936 incident

On 16 July 1936, as Edward VIII rode through Hyde Park, following the

Colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

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