OFFICIAL METROPOLITAN POLICE REPORT
FOR INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY
FOR INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY
NAME:
Alfred Turner
DOB: 19/05/1932
HEIGHT: 5”11
WEIGHT: 180 pounds
HAIR COLOUR: Red
EYE COLOUR: Brown
KNOWN ALIASES:
“RED TURNER”, “ALF TURNER”, “FRED TAYLOR”
Alfred Turner
DOB: 19/05/1932
HEIGHT: 5”11
WEIGHT: 180 pounds
HAIR COLOUR: Red
EYE COLOUR: Brown
KNOWN ALIASES:
“RED TURNER”, “ALF TURNER”, “FRED TAYLOR”
HISTORY:
Alfred Turner, aka “Red Turner”, is the presumed leader of an armed robbery gang operating in the Greater London area. Born in Putney in 1932 to Jonathan and Annabel Turner, Alfred’s childhood, as far as it can be ascertained, was completely normal. His father, Jonathan, earned a decent living as a train driver on the London Underground – and served with distinction as member of the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, assisting in the construction of Mulberry Harbours (See: DoD file #21023129). Turner’s mother, Annabel, did her part for the war effort as a machinist.
In November 1948, Turner’s father was gunned down on the way from work in a suspected robbery and Alfred, then studying with a view to become an engineer, was forced to drop his studies to support his mother and younger sister (See: Met Homicide file #08125933). For the best part of two years, Turner worked as a butcher’s apprentice in Stepney – grass reports gathered by East Ham Flying Squad from the period suggest it is likely the Binney Twins, then enforcers in the Donoghue Gang, used Turner’s butchers as a disposal point (See: Met Intelligence dossier #0234543). These claims are unsubstantiated, but are worth making note of in light of Turner’s future line of work.
In 1952, Turner was drafted for National Service and served in the Royal Fusiliers in Korea (See: DoD file #73024522). On his second tour in 1953, Turner was given an honorable discharge after contracting a particularly nasty strain of malaria and sent back to London. Perhaps motivated by his inability to find work upon his return from Korea, Turner’s alias “Alf Taylor” first appears in a Wandsworth Flying Squad report in connection to a spate of robberies across South London (See: Met Intelligence dossier #2345904).
In 1956, four synchronised robberies take place across East London at Donoghue-held businesses. Without a single shot being fired, more than £480,000 pounds is lifted from these properties and distributed between Turner and his eight associates (See: Met Intelligence dossier #2346290). Within two days, seven of Turner’s associates are found dead in locations across South and East London – and the seventh, Roger Kinnear, appears at Camberwell Police Station requesting police protection (See attached addendums CPS4338121 and CPS4338122). Shortly thereafter, on information provided by Kinnear, a badly beaten Turner is apprehended attempting to board a ferry to Calais.
Ahead of Turner’s trial, Kinnear – then under police protection – disappeared. Without Kinnear there to give evidence against him, Turner was sentenced to only five years in prison (See: DoJ document attached). After two years, taking into account Turner’s good behaviour while behind bars – and his military record – a parole board saw fit to release him back onto London’s streets.
From there, the trail goes cold for several years. Turner goes to ground. Nothing – not a mention of “Alf Turner” in a single Flying Squad report for the best part of four years. Grasses suggest Turner may have left London for fear of recrimination from what remains of the Donoghue organisation, with some suggesting he may have fled as far as South America. And then, without explanation, Turner reappears in South London in 1961 (See: Met Intelligence dossier #45232320) – and with him a series of heists over the next three years the like, and frequency of which, London has never seen before.
To assert that Turner’s return and this crime wave are linked without hard evidence would be folly, but not to ask the question at all would be more dangerous still. Where Turner was between 1958-1961 is anyone’s guess – but if he is back for good, and operating with the sanction of all, or any of London’s organised crime families, I suspect Flying Squad’s across this city of ours will have no shortage of work on their hands.
Sincerely,
Detective Superintendent Thomas Brown
Metropolitan Police Force Organised Crime Division
12/3/1964
Alfred Turner, aka “Red Turner”, is the presumed leader of an armed robbery gang operating in the Greater London area. Born in Putney in 1932 to Jonathan and Annabel Turner, Alfred’s childhood, as far as it can be ascertained, was completely normal. His father, Jonathan, earned a decent living as a train driver on the London Underground – and served with distinction as member of the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, assisting in the construction of Mulberry Harbours (See: DoD file #21023129). Turner’s mother, Annabel, did her part for the war effort as a machinist.
In November 1948, Turner’s father was gunned down on the way from work in a suspected robbery and Alfred, then studying with a view to become an engineer, was forced to drop his studies to support his mother and younger sister (See: Met Homicide file #08125933). For the best part of two years, Turner worked as a butcher’s apprentice in Stepney – grass reports gathered by East Ham Flying Squad from the period suggest it is likely the Binney Twins, then enforcers in the Donoghue Gang, used Turner’s butchers as a disposal point (See: Met Intelligence dossier #0234543). These claims are unsubstantiated, but are worth making note of in light of Turner’s future line of work.
In 1952, Turner was drafted for National Service and served in the Royal Fusiliers in Korea (See: DoD file #73024522). On his second tour in 1953, Turner was given an honorable discharge after contracting a particularly nasty strain of malaria and sent back to London. Perhaps motivated by his inability to find work upon his return from Korea, Turner’s alias “Alf Taylor” first appears in a Wandsworth Flying Squad report in connection to a spate of robberies across South London (See: Met Intelligence dossier #2345904).
In 1956, four synchronised robberies take place across East London at Donoghue-held businesses. Without a single shot being fired, more than £480,000 pounds is lifted from these properties and distributed between Turner and his eight associates (See: Met Intelligence dossier #2346290). Within two days, seven of Turner’s associates are found dead in locations across South and East London – and the seventh, Roger Kinnear, appears at Camberwell Police Station requesting police protection (See attached addendums CPS4338121 and CPS4338122). Shortly thereafter, on information provided by Kinnear, a badly beaten Turner is apprehended attempting to board a ferry to Calais.
Ahead of Turner’s trial, Kinnear – then under police protection – disappeared. Without Kinnear there to give evidence against him, Turner was sentenced to only five years in prison (See: DoJ document attached). After two years, taking into account Turner’s good behaviour while behind bars – and his military record – a parole board saw fit to release him back onto London’s streets.
From there, the trail goes cold for several years. Turner goes to ground. Nothing – not a mention of “Alf Turner” in a single Flying Squad report for the best part of four years. Grasses suggest Turner may have left London for fear of recrimination from what remains of the Donoghue organisation, with some suggesting he may have fled as far as South America. And then, without explanation, Turner reappears in South London in 1961 (See: Met Intelligence dossier #45232320) – and with him a series of heists over the next three years the like, and frequency of which, London has never seen before.
To assert that Turner’s return and this crime wave are linked without hard evidence would be folly, but not to ask the question at all would be more dangerous still. Where Turner was between 1958-1961 is anyone’s guess – but if he is back for good, and operating with the sanction of all, or any of London’s organised crime families, I suspect Flying Squad’s across this city of ours will have no shortage of work on their hands.
Sincerely,
Detective Superintendent Thomas Brown
Metropolitan Police Force Organised Crime Division
12/3/1964
