The prosecution case against Alfred Moore was this ;
At about 11-45pm on the night of Saturday 14th July 1951 ten Police officers were keeping watch on Whinney Close farm at Kirkheaton. They were placed so that all roads and footpaths could be observed and anyone entering or leaving the farm could be observed , one officer being hidden in a hen hut some 75yds from the farmhouse. It was said that each officer was about 150yards from the other and in effect the farm house had been encircled. The night was still , with no moon and as the observations commenced , the weather was fine. The trap was set , the wait had begun.
All was quiet until about 1-55am when the silent night air was shattered by a number of gunshots. After the initial shock and confusion one officer , Pc. Sellick ran from his post in the direction to which the shots had come , his attention was drawn to a lighted torch someway ahead in the fields below the farmhouse. On reaching this point Sellick discovered Detective Inspector Duncan Alexander Fraser and Police Constable Arthur Gordon Jagger lying in the grass , both had been shot. Fraser was dead at the scene , whilst Jagger had been mortally wounded but was said to be conscious . Visibility across open ground was said to be good up to sixty yards and against the hedgerows it was down to thirty. Sellick , saw or heard no one moving in the fields around him. ( Others would later say they saw or heard nothing moving in the fields and nobody saw anything or anyone entering the farmhouse). Sellick began blowing loud on his Police whistle and other officers were quickly upon the scene. About an hour later
the two fallen officers were transported over the fields on stretchers to the local brickworks where an ambulance waited to take them the the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Later that morning , Constable Jagger underwent major abdominal surgery in an attempt to save his life , however he was to die some thirty hours later ,on Monday 16th July 1951.
Back in the fields below the farm , re-enforcements had arrived , some armed . The man who would lead the investigation , Det.Chief Superintendent George Metcalfe , had also arrived and was being briefed about the incident. It was said that in the aftermath of the shootings , lights had been seen albeit for a short time in the farmhouse and now as day was begining to break , a clearer view of the farm could be had and it was noticed that large puffs of smoke were coming from one of the chimney pots and this continued for about fifteen minutes.
Shortly before 5am Chief Superintendent Metcalfe , accompanied by Police Constable Sydney Cleaver , who was armed with a revolver , approached the farmhouse. They saw a figure in an upstairs bedroom window. This was Mrs. Moore , and the Superintendent called out to her , and she opened the window. She was made aware that they were Police officers and that they wished to speak to her husband . She told the two that she and her husband would be out in a moment.
A few moments later the door to the farmhouse was opened and Alfred Moore stepped out , he was unarmed , wearing a shirt and flannel trousers and a pair of wellington boots. After a brief conversation during which he admitted to having a shotgun in the house , Constable Cleaver stepped forward and handcuffed Alfred Moore who was then told by Metcalfe that he was being arrested , why he was being arrested was not very clear , especially to Moore. Nevertheless he was taken away to the Divisional Headquarters of the West Riding Constabulary in Princess Street, Huddersfield.
At about 8-15am that morning , Alfred Moore was interviewed by Metcalfe and a Detective Inspector John Edington . The interview itself was rather short and some of the content was denied by Moore as being purley the imagination of Supt. Metcalfe. Alfred Moore did not admit any part in the murders , he gave them an account of his movements the previous day and night and whilst admitting that he walked his brother , Charles , home to the Almondbury area of Huddersfield , he had immediately returned to the farm via the public footpaths which ran through the fields . As far as he could remember he had arrived home around midnight. His defence was simple , at the time of the shootings , he was at home in bed with his wife and children. AlfredMoore maintained that was the case from day one, right up the the day of his excecution . However there was much more drama to come later on that particular Sunday
At about 11-45pm on the night of Saturday 14th July 1951 ten Police officers were keeping watch on Whinney Close farm at Kirkheaton. They were placed so that all roads and footpaths could be observed and anyone entering or leaving the farm could be observed , one officer being hidden in a hen hut some 75yds from the farmhouse. It was said that each officer was about 150yards from the other and in effect the farm house had been encircled. The night was still , with no moon and as the observations commenced , the weather was fine. The trap was set , the wait had begun.
All was quiet until about 1-55am when the silent night air was shattered by a number of gunshots. After the initial shock and confusion one officer , Pc. Sellick ran from his post in the direction to which the shots had come , his attention was drawn to a lighted torch someway ahead in the fields below the farmhouse. On reaching this point Sellick discovered Detective Inspector Duncan Alexander Fraser and Police Constable Arthur Gordon Jagger lying in the grass , both had been shot. Fraser was dead at the scene , whilst Jagger had been mortally wounded but was said to be conscious . Visibility across open ground was said to be good up to sixty yards and against the hedgerows it was down to thirty. Sellick , saw or heard no one moving in the fields around him. ( Others would later say they saw or heard nothing moving in the fields and nobody saw anything or anyone entering the farmhouse). Sellick began blowing loud on his Police whistle and other officers were quickly upon the scene. About an hour later
the two fallen officers were transported over the fields on stretchers to the local brickworks where an ambulance waited to take them the the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Later that morning , Constable Jagger underwent major abdominal surgery in an attempt to save his life , however he was to die some thirty hours later ,on Monday 16th July 1951.
Back in the fields below the farm , re-enforcements had arrived , some armed . The man who would lead the investigation , Det.Chief Superintendent George Metcalfe , had also arrived and was being briefed about the incident. It was said that in the aftermath of the shootings , lights had been seen albeit for a short time in the farmhouse and now as day was begining to break , a clearer view of the farm could be had and it was noticed that large puffs of smoke were coming from one of the chimney pots and this continued for about fifteen minutes.
Shortly before 5am Chief Superintendent Metcalfe , accompanied by Police Constable Sydney Cleaver , who was armed with a revolver , approached the farmhouse. They saw a figure in an upstairs bedroom window. This was Mrs. Moore , and the Superintendent called out to her , and she opened the window. She was made aware that they were Police officers and that they wished to speak to her husband . She told the two that she and her husband would be out in a moment.
A few moments later the door to the farmhouse was opened and Alfred Moore stepped out , he was unarmed , wearing a shirt and flannel trousers and a pair of wellington boots. After a brief conversation during which he admitted to having a shotgun in the house , Constable Cleaver stepped forward and handcuffed Alfred Moore who was then told by Metcalfe that he was being arrested , why he was being arrested was not very clear , especially to Moore. Nevertheless he was taken away to the Divisional Headquarters of the West Riding Constabulary in Princess Street, Huddersfield.
At about 8-15am that morning , Alfred Moore was interviewed by Metcalfe and a Detective Inspector John Edington . The interview itself was rather short and some of the content was denied by Moore as being purley the imagination of Supt. Metcalfe. Alfred Moore did not admit any part in the murders , he gave them an account of his movements the previous day and night and whilst admitting that he walked his brother , Charles , home to the Almondbury area of Huddersfield , he had immediately returned to the farm via the public footpaths which ran through the fields . As far as he could remember he had arrived home around midnight. His defence was simple , at the time of the shootings , he was at home in bed with his wife and children. AlfredMoore maintained that was the case from day one, right up the the day of his excecution . However there was much more drama to come later on that particular Sunday
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