Farsley killer told police 'a dead witness cannot talk' after 1970s double murder

Those were the words uttered almost 50 years ago by the Rev Ronald Whitehead at the funeral of Inspector Barry Taylor, a father-of-two murdered while on duty in Leeds.

It is fitting then that a memorial service will be held today to remember Insp Taylor and night watchman Ian Riley, who lost his life at the hands of the same killer.

The pair had simply been doing their jobs when they each encountered burglar Neil George Adamson at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley on the night of February 15, 1970.

He turned a sawn-off shotgun on them before going on the run, sparking a two-day man hunt involving dozens of police officers.

A court would later hear how he told police: “I figured that I should get no more for murder than attempted murder and, you know, a dead witness cannot talk.”

The events of that fateful night shocked the local community and had a profound impact on the families of the two victims.

Mandy Cook, a niece of Insp Taylor, was born 17 months after the murders, which were discussed very little by her family as she grew up.

"The day after he was murdered, he was meant to be going to my mum's house for some Sunday lunch," Mandy said.

"She thought it was a practical joke when people were knocking on the door. She demanded to be taken to the morgue to see him herself. The last thing she remembered was she just fainted into a policeman's arms."

'In cold blood, he shot him down'

Coverage from the Yorkshire Evening Post at the time details the murders and the police investigation that followed.

The front page on February 16 included a first person account by engineer James Edward Hare, who lived in a house on the mill site.

He wrote: "When I got to about 50 yards from the main gate, I saw a police inspector running towards the gate. Then I heard a shot… the Inspector staggered maybe five or six yards and them slumped face downwards on the ground. At this time I was around 10 yards behind him and saw nothing of the gunman.

"I went to the Inspector whom I now know to be Mr Taylor to see if I could render any help. I shone my torch on him and saw he was bleeding from the nose and mouth but was still just alive."

As two other officers arrived, Mr Hare went in search of the missing night watchman and checked inside the time office at the main gate.

He described finding the office in darkness but with glass in a little peephole broken: "I shone my torch through the broken glass and saw a man's feet and legs. I pushed open the door and found a body on the floor, the upper part had been covered with a coat.

"I moved back the coat and found to my horror it was our night watchman, Mr Riley, and he was dead: there were shotgun wounds around his neck.

"I think the murdered must have come over a boundary wall at the back, then walked down to the time office at the main gate where Mr Riley was. Then, in cold blood, he shot him down."

Coverage in the same edition details how the man hunt had been extended to include the district between Pudsey and the Swinnow estate at Bramley.

It said: "Throughout the hours of darkness the search went on with armed policemen standing by ready to rush to any place if the gunman was sighted."

'It sent shivers down my spine'

Mandy, 48, now lives in South Shields but has visited Sunny Bank Mills on a number of occasions.

"They actually took me through my uncle's last footsteps," she said. "It sent shivers down my spine just thinking about what happened.

"I think the whole thing from him hearing the alarm going off and getting to the mill was only 11 minutes.