Superintendent Gerry Was Shot Dead In Blackpool 53 Years Ago

Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Friday, 23rd August 2024, at 15:00hrs

Superintendent Gerry Richardson  was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1972.

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the death of Superintendent Gerry Richardson.

On 23 August 1971, Superintendent Richardson assisted in a car chase of a gang of five armed robbers who had attacked a jeweller’s shop in Blackpool. As the gang split up and attempted to escape on foot, he and PC Carl Walker, who also later won the George Cross, chased one of the raiders, Frederick Joseph Sewell, down a dead-end alleyway.

Sewell shot PC Walker in the thigh before Superintendent Richardson tackled the gunman and attempted to persuade him to surrender his weapon. However, Superintendent Richardson was shot twice in the stomach at point-blank range and died of his injuries later that day at Blackpool’s Victoria

The five armed robbers were all convicted and sentenced to a combined total of 93 years in prison, including Sewell who escaped after the shooting but was tracked down to a north London flat and jailed for 30 years for murder. Sewell said of Superintendent Richardson at his trial: “I shall see him every day of my life. He just kept coming. He was too brave.” Sewell was released in 2001, when aged 68, after completing his thirty year prison sentence. The other members of the gang recieved custodial sentences of between ten and fifteen years.

In remembrance, Lancashire Police wrote,

“On 23rd August 1971, Superintendent Gerry Richardson was killed in the line of duty.

Shot and fatally wounded when, unarmed and knowing two officers had already been shot, he attempted to arrest an armed robber at Blackpool. He was aged just 38.

Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, colleagues, families, NARPO (National Association of Retired Police Officers) and the Lancashire Constabulary Superintendents Association gathered to lay floral tributes to mark this day, that will forever be etched in Lancashire Constabulary’s history.

We will never forget his bravery and sacrifice.