Overview
- Roberts reportedly died in hospital on December 13, 2025, after a short illness, having lived in sheltered accommodation in Peterborough since his 2014 release on licence.
- He served about 48 years in prison for the Shepherd’s Bush murders of DS Christopher Head, DC David Wombwell and PC Geoffrey Fox on August 12, 1966.
- The killings, carried out with accomplices John Duddy and John Witney, shocked Britain and prompted a 96‑day manhunt before Roberts was arrested on November 15, 1966.
- At the Old Bailey, the judge called the murders "the most heinous crime for a generation or more" and imposed life sentences with a recommended 30‑year minimum term.
- The Metropolitan Police Federation condemned his earlier release as a mistake and reiterated that life should mean life for those who murder police officers in the line of duty.