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Whilst I'm trawling ....
... through my Hanratty archives, here is another post I made on the old thread which Casebook members with an interest in the Hanratty case might find interesting:
Throughout the A6 murder enquiry and subsequent court case against James Hanratty Superintendent Bob Acott played a decisive role. He and his assistant Ken Oxford have occasionally been castigated for their actions in exonerating Peter Alphon and vilified for fabricating or manipulating evidence against James Hanratty. Therefore it is worth spending a little time looking at Mr Acott’s character and background.
He was born in Ilford, Essex in January 1913 and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1933 as a 20 year-old former furniture representative. When World War Two started in 1939 Bob Acott was a police constable in a reserved occupation and could easily have avoided active service. He chose, however, to join RAF Bomber Command in April 1942; police officers were given special dispensation to do so because of the high casualty rate in Bomber Command at that stage of the war. He joined the RAF as a private, ended the war as a commissioned officer, Flight Lieutenant, and during his service with the RAF was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After WW2, even though he had been an officer in the RAF, Acott rejoined the Metropolitan Police as an ordinary police constable. He gained promotion to Sergeant at the end of 1946 when he was 33 years-old, and further promotions followed including a position as Detective Inspector in 1955.
In 1961, Basil Montague Acott, was a 48 year-old married family man living in South London with undisputable integrity, a first class record of service in the Metropolitan Police, holding the rank of Detective Superintendent, having been promoted from Chief Inspector the previous year, and earning £163 per month.
He might have been sitting at home eating a meal or watching television when his life changed forever one August evening that year as a lone gunman approached a parked Morris Minor in a cornfield at Dorney Reach.
... through my Hanratty archives, here is another post I made on the old thread which Casebook members with an interest in the Hanratty case might find interesting:
Throughout the A6 murder enquiry and subsequent court case against James Hanratty Superintendent Bob Acott played a decisive role. He and his assistant Ken Oxford have occasionally been castigated for their actions in exonerating Peter Alphon and vilified for fabricating or manipulating evidence against James Hanratty. Therefore it is worth spending a little time looking at Mr Acott’s character and background.
He was born in Ilford, Essex in January 1913 and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1933 as a 20 year-old former furniture representative. When World War Two started in 1939 Bob Acott was a police constable in a reserved occupation and could easily have avoided active service. He chose, however, to join RAF Bomber Command in April 1942; police officers were given special dispensation to do so because of the high casualty rate in Bomber Command at that stage of the war. He joined the RAF as a private, ended the war as a commissioned officer, Flight Lieutenant, and during his service with the RAF was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After WW2, even though he had been an officer in the RAF, Acott rejoined the Metropolitan Police as an ordinary police constable. He gained promotion to Sergeant at the end of 1946 when he was 33 years-old, and further promotions followed including a position as Detective Inspector in 1955.
In 1961, Basil Montague Acott, was a 48 year-old married family man living in South London with undisputable integrity, a first class record of service in the Metropolitan Police, holding the rank of Detective Superintendent, having been promoted from Chief Inspector the previous year, and earning £163 per month.
He might have been sitting at home eating a meal or watching television when his life changed forever one August evening that year as a lone gunman approached a parked Morris Minor in a cornfield at Dorney Reach.
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