“SUPERCOP” Jim Sewell has died at the age of 94.
He won his nickname in the 1970s for clearing up 12 London murder cases in 12 months, and, as head of the Flying Squad, he exploited his celebrity cop status by playing football with John Thaw and Dennis Waterman who were the stars of the TV series The Sweeney, which was based on his squad.
In 1981, he was head of security at the St Paul’s Cathedral wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, leading 400 policemen who were on duty and making regular television appearances warning the crowds of gangs of South American pickpockets and cardsharps playing “find the lady”. He also warned those at home watching the wedding on the telly to lock their back doors to keep the criminals out.
As a result of his organisation, the Daily Telegraph, in its obituary of him, said the wedding day was “triumphantly crime free”.
It and another obituary in The Times have slightly contradictory stories about Supercop’s beginnings but they agree that he was born in Coxhoe on October 29, 1931. His dad, James, was a miner.
It seems that young Jim won a scholarship to Darlington Grammar School and his parents moved into the town to run a grocer’s shop. Jim played water polo for Darlington while his younger brother, Arthur, played football for Bishop Auckland.
Jim left the grammar school at 16 to work in the shop. He did National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps as he fancied being a doctor but instead, in 1954, joined the police in west London.
He rose rapidly through the ranks, although the national newspapers say he returned home twice to tackle North East crimes: in 1971 to South Shields to crack an illegal abortion racket and in 1977 to Ingleton to solve a shocking pensioner murder.
As followers of the fortune of local MPs will know, it is easy to get Ingletons confused, and we reckon this murder was in Ingleton on the Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire border rather than the Ingleton down the road from Darlington in Teesdale.
As head of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad in 1976, perhaps his most famous case involved bank cashier Angela Woolliscroft, who was shot by a man in a woman’s wig in the Richmond branch of Barclay’s.
It was a huge inquiry, but Jim had a feeling that his prime suspect was a Michael Hart, who had gone to ground. Jim spotted that he was owed money by a petrol station and he had a hunch he would one day return to collect his dues.
Hart did and, 71 days after the murder, was arrested.
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Jim retired in 1984 and continued as a celebrity cop, advising TV shows and lecturing on cruises. He kept wicket for Fred Trueman’s cricket team in charity matches but dropped two catches in one over off the great fast bowler that, according to the Telegraph, Fiery Fred snarled at him: “I hope you’re better at catching bloody murderers!”
What a fabulous, and full, life!
- Thanks to Rodney Wildsmith for the tip-off
