Deterrence (Part Six) 

John Reginald Halliday Christie, one of the most prolific and evil serial killers in British history had been a Special Constable during the Second World War, despite his criminal record. He admitted to seven murders, but that was not his true tally. There were at least two more.

Mr Justices Collins and Burnton emphatically added baby Geraldine Evans to his list of victims despite his denials in 2004, but eight is not his final tally either. On March 9th 1950 Christie had claimed another victim, but this time the state did his killing for him. Christie's perjured testimony sent an innocent man to the gallows. His role in that crime cannot be excused.

Failed Deterrent:

Even after giving evidence that sent an innocent man to the gallows Christie failed to stop killing, knowing full well that he risked execution if caught. The death penalty was not an effective deterrent. Far from prevent Christie killing it gave him a strong incentive to swear away the life of an innocent man – self preservation – and even that failed to stop his killing-lust.

Four more people lost their lives at Christie's hands before his depraved and evil reign of terror was finally brought to an end. Ethel Christie: Hectorina MacLennan, Kathleen Maloney and Rita Nelson would have been spared their fate if the investigation and search of 10 Rillington Place that had been conducted in the Evans investigation had been thorough – minimally competent even. Two of his victims had been buried in the garden years earlier. Police failed to find their bodies then and expose him for the depraved killer that he was.

Five lives could have been saved if the search had been efficient as no competent jury could have convicted Evans if they had known that the 'respectable' Mr Christie was a depraved killer. He remains the most prolific killer with a background in law enforcement to be executed in Britain in the twentieth century. Neither the death penalty, nor the life of an innocent man could prevent him embarking on and continuing his murderous reign of terror, spanning almost a decade.

The Failure of the Ultimate Deterrent:

Christie was not the only former law enforcement officer to go to the gallows in Britain. The death penalty was last used in Britain in 1964, but not before two ex police officers and a former Special Constable were executed.

James Power was a criminal in uniform during his brief career as a Birmingham police officer. The loss of his job failed to end his criminal career and ultimately saw him become the first former police officer to be hanged in Britain last century.

Less than a decade after Power was executed in 1928, the tragic story of the second, Ernest Moss, ended the same way in Exeter. The last and by the far the worst of the trio was former Special Constable and depraved serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie with a least nine victims to his name.

But there is an even better example of the failure of the ultimate deterrent than all three of them put together – the one and only serving police officer to be hanged for murder in Britain in the twentieth century, two and a half years before Christie reign of terror ended. Even that failed to stop Christie.