The story of Fred Wensley, a Somerset gardener who joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888 and retired, forty-one years later as Chief Constable of the CID, is an extraordinary one. After an abortive attempt to catch Jack the Ripper by nailing strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots, Wensley got stuck into arresting the neer-do-wells of Whitechapel, where he would spend twenty-five years of his service. Within months of joining the CID, Wensley, while off duty, arrested a double murderer. He smashed the murderous Bessarabian and Odessa gangs, brought the Vendetta gang to book when, brandishing revolvers they tried to storm a police court, played a decisive part in the Siege of Sidney Street and created the Flying Squad. Wensleys career was dogged with controversy; when Stinie Morrison was convicted of murder, was he, as he claimed, framed by Wensley? And was Edith Thompson, hanged for the murder of her husband, as Wensley stated, a cold-blooded murderess or, as her defence counsel claimed, a fanciful dreamer? The first Kings Police Medal was awarded to Wensley; he was appointed OBE and commended on many of occasions. Retired Flying Squad officer, turned author, Dick Kirby has dug deep to paint a fascinating portrait of the man dubbed, The Greatest Detective of all Time. AUTHOR: Dick Kirby was born in the East End of London and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967. Half of his twenty-six years' service was spent with Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. Kirby contributes to newspapers and magazines on a regular basis, as well as appearing on television and radio. The Guv'nors, The Sweeney, Scotland Yard's Ghost Squad, Brave Blue Line, Death on the Beat, Scourge of Soho, Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, London's Gangs at War, Scotland Yard's Gangbuster, The Mayfair Mafia, Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, Racetrack Gangs, IRA Terror on Britain's Streets, Scotland Yard's Casebook of Serious Crime, The Brighton Police Scandal and Missing Presumed Murdered are all published under the Wharncliffe True Crime imprint and he has further other published works to his credit. On retirement he lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Kirby can be visited at his website: www.dickkirby.com.
