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Sgt John Speed was shot in 1984, going to the aid of a colleague who was shot during a routine check on two men acting suspiciously near Leeds Parish Church. It is assumed they were attempting to steal vehicles for use in armed robberies.

PC John Thorpe 33 arrived first and spoke only briefly when one of the men pulled out a handgun and opened fire.

As the constable lay in a pool of blood, the gunman turned his weapon on Sgt Speed 39 who'd arrived seconds before, fatally shooting him in the chest at point-blank range.

He also fired at PC John Raj, who came to assist his colleagues, but missed him.

Sgt Speed died shortly after the shooting in October 1984. PC Thorpe was seriously wounded, but survived.

The killer, David Gricewith, was only identified after his own death some 2 years later. Gricewith, a garage owner, was a career armed criminal.

A police chase followed a raid on a supermarket at Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, two years after Sgt Speed's murder. Gricewith's sawn-off shotgun went off accidentally, shooting him in the stomach, when police rammed his van. He died soon afterwards.

His girlfriend helped to confirm suspicions that Gricewith was the killer.