- Linwood bank robbery
The Linwood bank robbery was a bank robbery which took place in
Glasgow on30 December 1969 . Two police officers were shot dead and a third seriously injured.The gang of three robbers robbed the
Clydesdale Bank inLinwood . The leader was Howard Wilson, himself a former police officer. Shortly after a police officer spotted them inAllison Street in Glasgow, where he thought they were acting a bit suspiciously. When a group of officers investigated Wilson pulled out a gun and shot three of them. He then fired a shot into two of them as they were lying injured on the floor, and was about to shoot a third when he was rugby-tackled by another officer. One of the wounded officers died at the scene, another died in hospital a few days later, and the third was put in awheelchair for life.Wilson eventually pleaded guilty to two charges of murder, the first time anyone had pleaded guilty to a double murder charge in
Scotland . Two officers involved in capturing him were awarded theGeorge Cross .It is generally accepted that the same gang had carried out the
Williamwood bank robbery a few months earlier, along with a fourth man. The subsequent whereabouts of the fourth man are unknown, there is a dubious rumour that he is buried in the pillars of the Kingston Bridge.Wilson was released after 33 years. He wrote a novel "Angels of Death".
External links
* [http://www.real-crime.co.uk/Murder1/DOCW.HTML#Wilson,%20Howard article]
* [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/special-reports/crimes-that-rocked-scotland/2007/10/19/cop-kills-cops-86908-19978346/ "Daily Record" article]
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