Whitechapel’s Sherlock Holmes: The Casebook of Fred Wensley OBR, KPM - Victorian Crime Buster

The story of Fred Wensley, a Somerset gardener who joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888 and retired, forty-one years later as Chief Constable of the CID, is an extraordinary one. After an abortive attempt to catch ‘Jack the Ripper’ by nailing strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots, Wensley got stuck into arresting the ne’er-do-wells of Whitechapel, where he would spend twenty-five years of his service. Within months of joining the CID, Wensley, while off duty, arrested a double murderer. He smashed the murderous Bessarabian and Odessa gangs, brought the Vendetta gang to book when, brandishing revolvers they tried to storm a police court, played a decisive part in the Siege of Sidney Street and created the Flying Squad. Wensley’s career was dogged with controversy; when Stinie Morrison was convicted of murder, was he, as he claimed, framed by Wensley? And was Edith Thompson, hanged for the murder of her husband, as Wensley stated, ‘a cold-blooded murderess’ or, as her defense counsel claimed, ‘a fanciful dreamer’? The first King’s Police Medal was awarded to Wensley; he was appointed OBE and commended on many of occasions. Retired Flying Squad officer, turned author, Dick Kirby has dug deep to paint a fascinating portrait of the man dubbed, ‘The Greatest Detective of all Time’. Jack the Ripper and beyond—forty-one years in the investigative career of a man hailed by many as Scotland Yard's greatest detective of all time. Fred Wensley was a Somerset gardener when he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888. His first case was to unmask Jack the Ripper. At least it familiarized Wensley with Whitechapel, where he bided his time collaring less threatening ne'er-do-wells. After joining the CID, Wensley's career was a succession of triumphs. He brought to book the Bessarabian, Odessa, and Vendetta crime syndicates of London's East End; he played an instrumental role in smashing Latvian revolutionaries in the notorious Siege of Sidney Street; he formed the Flying Squad, a stealth surveillance team still operating to this day; and most infamous of all—his arrest in one of Great Britain's most notorious crimes of passion, a controversial cause célèbre that would shadow Wensley for the rest of his life. Retired Flying Squad officer Dick Kirby has dug deep to paint a fascinating portrait of Fred Wensley, Chief Constable of the CID and the first recipient of the King's Police Medal, in this “welcome biography of a distinguished detective” (History by the Yard). TRUE CRIME. The story of Fred Wensley, a Somerset gardener who joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888 and retired, forty-one years later as Chief Constable of the CID, is an extraordinary one. After an abortive attempt to catch 'Jack the Ripper' by nailing strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots, Wensley got stuck into arresting the ne'er-do-wells of Whitechapel, where he would spend twenty-five years of his service. Within months of joining the CID, Wensley, while off duty, arrested a double murderer. He smashed the murderous Bessarabian and Odessa gangs, brought the Vendetta gang to book when, brandishing revolvers they tried to storm a police court, played a decisive part in the Siege of Sidney Street and created the Flying Squad Fred Wensley is arguably the most legendary detective in the history of the Metropolitan Police. Thrilling stories of gang busting, murder and insurrection from his controversial yet hugely successful police career.