The Murder of PC 167 William Ralph Shiell
The Coxhoe Store murder of 1940 may still be remembered by older residents of Coxhoe and was reported in the papers at the time. The following article was published in ‘The Coxhoe Chronicle’ Spring 2005 and has the benefit of knowledge gained from John Hepplewhite’s interview with the family.
In the early years of the Second World War (1939-45) there was a spate of burglaries throughout County Durham which were made easier by the mandatory ‘blackout’. Obviously the successful Co-operative Stores represented rich pickings for burglars and Police Officers gave them special attention.
Two men, Vincent Ostler, aged 24 years and William Appleby, 27 years, both of Hawksworth, Yorkshire, had planned a string of burglaries at Co-op stores in the north of England. On 29th Feb 1940, they had arrived in Durham and had gone to the Cinema. They had originally planned to break into Ferryhill Co-op but on arrival found lights on in the building, so drove on to Coxhoe instead.
At 2 am Ostler and Appleby climbed onto the store roof and broke in through a skylight window and searched for cash and cigarettes.
A young miner, Jesse Smith, was travelling from Bowburn past Coronation Terrace in Coxhoe. Noticing a torchlight flashing in the Coxhoe Co-op and a face appearing at a window, he ran quickly to the Police Station at the bottom of Front Street (now one of the village dentists and a Chiropodists) some 200 yards from the store. He quickly returned with Police Constable William Shiell, War Reserve Constable Stafford and another miner, William Wilson.
PC Shiell waited outside the front store with Jesse on the corner and Constable Stafford and William investigated the rear of the building. When Stafford rattled the rear door knob one thief shattered a glass window at the front of the building, dived onto the street and was closely followed by PC Shiell.
He blew his whistle, shouted and kept his torch beam on the burglars as they fled around the corner into Patterson’s opening (Patterson’s was a local butchers shop and slaughterhouse – now Village Care- situated at Wesley Place on what is now the Village Green). It was black dark.
The two burglars fled south of Pattersons on the same side of the road as Long Row (demolished in 1971). The Constable was about to approach them at an area of wasteland adjacent to the Long Row when one uttered the fatal words, “All right, let him have it!” The other drew a revolver and shot PC Shiell in the stomach. The burglars ran off in the dark. Shortly afterwards Constable Stafford found his wounded colleague. With the help of the two miners Stafford carried PC Shiell to the house of former worker Robert Sinderson at 53 The Long Row. PC Shiell asked the other to order an ambulance and inform the sergeant. Before being taken to hospital PC Shiell informed his Sergeant that he had disturbed two men and that one of them had told the other “let him have it. He is alone!”. He died the next day in Durham County Hospital.
Extensive enquiries were made by Durham County Police officers, under Detective Superintendent Holmes and Superintendent Johnson, with the co-operation of West Riding Constabulary. A Vauxhall car, stolen at Chester-le-Street a few days earlier was found burnt out at Huddersfield Moors. Following enquiries in Leeds regarding the disposal of stolen property and only three days after the murder, two men were arrested at Otley. Ostler apparently put up a struggle, but Appleby readily admitted to being present when Ostler shot PC Shiell although denied he had ever said “let him have it”.
After a long trial at Leeds Assizes they were found guilty and sentenced to death. Following an unsuccessful appeal both men were hanged side by side by Thomas Pierrepoint at Durham Gaol on Thursday 11th July 1940.
On the Tuesday after the murder, 5th March, PC Shiell’s funeral service took place at St Andrew’s Church, Spennymoor, the same church he was married in only a few years earlier. His last resting place is York Hill Cemetery, Spennymoor. The route from the family home at 6, The Avenue, Coxhoe to St Andrew’s Church was packed with mourners. Over 200 police officers were in attendance. PC Shiell was a mere 28 years old and he left a wife Freda and daughter Barbara aged three years.
After a long trial at Leeds Assizes they were found guilty and sentenced to death. Following an unsuccessful appeal both men were hanged side by side by Thomas Pierrepoint at Durham Gaol on Thursday 11th July 1940.
On the Tuesday after the murder, 5th March, PC Shiell’s funeral service took place at St Andrew’s Church, Spennymoor, the same church he was married in only a few years earlier. His last resting place is York Hill Cemetery, Spennymoor. The route from the family home at 6, The Avenue, Coxhoe to St Andrew’s Church was packed with mourners. Over 200 police officers were in attendance. PC Shiell was a mere 28 years old and he left a wife Freda and daughter Barbara aged three years.
The Durham County Police Federation Joint Branch Board kindly donated £300 to Coxhoe Community Partnership to be used to purchase a seat in memory of PC Shiell for the Community/Sensory Garden.
The inscription reads:
Sponsored by Durham J.B.B.
“In memory of Constable 167 William Ralph Shiell“Murdered in the Execution of his duty” 1st March 1940
Freda, his wife died in 1987 at Norton, Cleveland and daughter Barbara died 2002, their ashes also interred at York Hill Cemetery in Spennymoor.
Acknowledgements to Jim Robinson, Durham Police Federation Joint Board, Sally Sinderson for information about the incident and Geoff Revell for family photographs, documents and newspaper cuttings.
Footnote: Geoff Revell was the husband of PC Shiell’s daughter Barbara and assisted greatly in supplying photographic and other documentation concerning the murder. Sadly, he died shortly before the Sensory Garden was opened on 10th June 2006, having agreed to be present at the ceremony. Their daughter Louise, a lecturer in archaeology at Southampton University, travelled from her home in Hampshire for the occasion.
Credits :- British Newspaper Archive
Images have been improved using AI (Microsoft Co-pilot)
Copyright:- Coxhoe Local History Group
Coxhoe Local History Group 