Peter Edmonds; foiled kidnap attempt of Princess Anne
Hyfler/Rosner
of the other protagonists, Brian McConnell, whose obituary I
posted last year.
Peter Edmonds
(Filed: 15/03/2005) Telegraph
Peter Edmonds, who has died aged 56, was awarded one of the
first Queen's Gallantry Medals as the Metropolitan Police
officer responsible for capturing the man involved in the
attempted kidnapping of Princess Anne in The Mall in 1974.
Edmonds was on duty as a temporary detective constable at
Cannon Row police station when the call about the attack was
received.
He drove to the scene in his own car, and saw a man with a
gun running across St James's Park. Edmonds gave chase and,
although threatened with the gun, threw his coat over the
fugitive's head, forced him to the ground and arrested him.
Princess Anne had been returning to Buckingham Palace from
an official function with her then husband, Captain Mark
Phillips, when a small car slewed in front of the royal
limousine and braked sharply.
A 26-year-old man, Ian Ball, leaped out brandishing two
handguns, smashed one of the car's windows and, pointing a
gun directly at the princess and Captain Phillips, ordered
them to alight.
Inspector James Beaton, the princess's protection officer,
drew his firearm and confronted him, but was shot three
times; he was later awarded the George Cross.
Ball fired again - one bullet passed between the royal
couple, and another wounded the Princess's chauffeur.
Others at the scene who attempted to restrain Ball included
Pc Michael Hills and Ronald Russell, a cleaning company
manager who, having manoeuvred his car in front of Ball's to
block his escape, ran across and punched the assailant. Both
of them were shot, both later received the George Medal.
A Fleet Street reporter, Brian McConnell, who heard shots
and leaped out and tried to reason with Ball, was shot in
the chest; he was awarded a Queen's Gallantry Medal, as was
the chauffeur, Alexander Callender.
In the end it was left to Edmonds to capture Ball, who was
subsequently sentenced to indefinite detention under the
Mental Health Act.
Peter Roy Edmonds was born at Nottingham on December 12
1948. The family moved to Plymouth, where Edmonds was
educated at local schools.
He became an apprentice shipwright at Devonport dockyard,
but later went to South Africa for two years to work in a
shipyard at Durban. On returning to England, he became a
maintenance engineer in London before joining the
Metropolitan Police in 1971.
As a detective, he served mainly in the East End and had
several spells in such units as the Stolen Car Squad.
Three years after the incident in The Mall, Edmonds and a
detective sergeant were confronted by a gunman who had
stolen a car to rob a post office. The robber ordered
Edmonds and the detective sergeant to raise their hands,
then turned and ran, firing as he went.
The two detectives eventually overpowered him, and Edmonds
received a Commissioner's High Commendation.
Edmonds retired from the Metropolitan Police as a detective
sergeant in 1998. During his service he had been commended
by an Old Bailey judge, the Director of Public Prosecutions
and the Bow Street magistrates; he had been awarded two
Commissioner's High Commendations and received five
Commendations for bravery and detective ability.
After retiring to Devon, Edmonds pursued his hobbies of
building restoration, surfing and music. He achieved his
life-long ambition of visiting New Orleans and playing
keyboards with various groups.
Peter Edmonds married Gillian Darby in 1977, but they
divorced 11 years later. He is survived by a son and two
daughters of the marriage, and by his long-term companion,
Joan Watts.
Brian McConnell
(Filed: 13/07/2004) Telegraph
Brian McConnell, who has died aged 76, was the Fleet Street
reporter awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his part in
foiling an attempt to kidnap Princess Anne in the Mall in
1974.
On the evening of March 20, the Princess and her then
husband, Capt Mark Phillips, were being driven down the Mall
near Admiralty Arch when a driver slewed his car in front of
theirs.
Leaping out, the man thrust a gun through the window; he
planned to kidnap the Princess and demand a £3 million
ransom. A police inspector in the car with the royal couple
tried to reason with him, and was shot.
McConnell, who had written a book on assassinations, was in
a taxi travelling ahead of the royal limousine. Hearing a
crash and then shots, he jumped out of the cab and ran to
the crashed car, telling the gunman: "You can't do that.
These are my friends. Don't be silly. Just give me the gun."
In reply the man told him to get out of the way, then shot
him in the chest. Staggering to the side of the road,
McConnell said to a woman there: "I think I've been shot."
"You'd better sit down," she replied.
The kidnapper was overcome, having shot not only McConnell
and the inspector, but also another policeman and the royal
chauffeur - and all four were taken to St George's Hospital.
On regaining consciousness, McConnell could remember little.
Then he saw Nick Davies, a Daily Mirror reporter who,
clothed in a borrowed doctor's white coat, was waiting to
take down his exclusive story.
McConnell spent a week in hospital, and was later presented
with the Queen's Gallantry Medal at Buckingham Palace.
The son of a surveyor, John Brian McConnell was born on
December 27 1928, and went to Woodmansterne Road School,
Streatham, before being evacuated to Eastbourne and then
Bookham, Surrey.
On returning to Streatham, he attended whatever school was
available, including St Joseph's College, Norwood, a Jewish
orphanage and a home for unmarried mothers. The most
valuable lessons he learned were shorthand and typing.
He left school at 14, and found work on the council workers'
Municipal Journal, then the South London Press. He did his
National Service with the RAF as a wireless operator.
On coming out, McConnell married Margaret Walden. He went to
the Daily Mirror, with which he was to remain connected as
staff man and freelance for much of his career.
A good, hard-working, convivial reporter who was always
polite, he served variously as the paper's crime reporter,
Old Bailey correspondent and editor of the "Live Letters"
column.
For three years he was the news editor for the Sun after it
became a tabloid in 1969. But he particularly enjoyed
freelancing, not least since this gave him the chance to
write books.
These included Assassination (1969), which ranged from the
Assyrians to the murder of the Kennedys; and The Rise and
Fall of the Brothers Kray (1969), which was based on Mirror
reports of their trials.
He also published The Sign of the Crane (1978), the history
of a London printing firm; The Neilson File (1983), about
the murderer Donald Neilson; and Holy Killers (1995), an
account of murderous clerics and religious leaders.
In later years, McConnell wrote light-hearted articles for
the New Law Journal and lectured to conferences in North
America. Up to the time of death on Saturday, he was writing
a local history column in the South London Press.
He recently celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of his
arrival in Fleet Street with a party at El Vino wine bar.
Looking back on his career, he said he was proudest of the
title with which Edgar Wallace is commemorated on a plaque
at Ludgate Circus, at the bottom of Fleet Street:
"reporter".