THERE have certainly been a few arresting moments over the course of Cheshire Constabulary’s 150 year history.
From its inception in 1857 right through to the present day, it has been at the centre of many ground-breaking, heart-breaking and some historic events.
In February 1857 the first full Cheshire Police Committee meeting was held at the Crewe Arms Hotel when the force was responsible for just 946 square miles and a population of 980,000.
Since then Cheshire Constabulary has been involved in major cases such as the Moors Murders and Lindow Man, to achievements and innovations including the peace keeping operations in New York and setting up the first neighbourhood policing unit in the country.
Acting Chief Constable Graeme Gerrard, said: "One of the earliest crimes in Cheshire Constabulary’s day occurred just 16 years after the founding of the force.
"Constable James Green sadly became the first officer to be murdered in the line of duty. Even though a probable murder weapon was found, forensics at the time was not sufficiently advanced to secure a conviction.
"PC Green still remains the only Cheshire officer to have been murdered in the line of duty."
By 1909 forensics were advanced enough for ‘new serum’ tests when examining blood stains which were used in the Gorse Hall murder trial when the victim, Mr George Henry Storrs, was stabbed in a violent and horrific murder while at home in Stalybridge. Unfortunately, after two suspects and two trials there were no convictions and the case remains unsolved.
However, further advances in science, plus the use of expert witnesses, did ensure a success for Cheshire Constabulary in 1935 with a Northwich safe robbery which went down in history for the way the crime was solved rather than for the crime itself.
The force was making history in another way by 1937 when one of the first driving schools for officers in the UK opened in Hoole, Chester.
"It was now no longer enough for officers to be able to ‘handle a vehicle’ they now had to undergo advanced driving training, including skidding at high speed," said ACC Gerrard.
One of the most notorious crimes ever recorded in England involved officers from the Cheshire Constabulary . In April 1966 the Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, were tried at Chester Assizes accused of three murders. Lesley Ann Downey, the fourth victim, was born in Cheshire and Hindley lived in Hattersley, which at the time was part of Cheshire.
And in 1983 the spotlight of the world fell on Wilmslow when officers unearthed the well preserved remains of a man murdered 2000 years ago beneath Lindow Moss. He became known as Lindow Man and can be seen in the British Museum today.
Later there was also the Stockport air crash and the Middlewich helicopter crash, which both showed officers’ abilities to deal effectively with emergency situations.
And in 1977 there were the murders of two bank workers in Prestbury by David Walsh and the shooting of Billy Hughes - a sadistic criminal who took a whole family hostage, later murdering most of them. These stand out as strong examples of policing under pressure. Billy Hughes was eventually stopped in Macclesfield and was shot by police marksmen.
Walsh, a no-hoper who had stabbed bank worker Ian Jebb, leaving another bank worker, Ian’s fiancée, to die of exposure on the moors above Leek, was sentenced to 25 years in prison as a result of overwhelming evidence against him.
But not all memorable moments in Cheshire Constabulary’s history are so fraught with sadness.
In 1973 DC Barry Benson joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary for a year. In between the terrible notion of attending funerals for colleagues killed in the line of duty and the violence that was a daily occurrence, Barry has a strong feeling of camaraderie with his colleagues in Belfast and the sense that the work they did was an important part of the journey towards peace.
And peace is the overriding concern today of Chief Inspector Sarah Boycott. Sarah has spent the last 10 months working for the United Nations in New York, heading up a team planning the UN police component in Darfur.
Cheshire Constabulary is celebrating its 150th anniversary and with Cheshire’s help, Darfur may soon be celebrating its first.
