The Miner's Lamp Case
| Author | N. J. Finnerty |
| Published date | 01 October 1985 |
| Date | 01 October 1985 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X8505800403 |
Det. Ch. Supt. N. J. FINNERTY
Head
of
Crimina/Investigation Department,
Lancashire Constabulary.
THE
MINER'S
LAMP CASE
There stands in a show casein the Lancashire Constabulary
Museum a coal miner's brass safetylamp measuring some 9" in
height. Not a singularly significantitembut oneof immense
importance to a particularly intriguing murder case which had all
the classic hallmarks of a fictional thriller. A case alsowhich
involved, by necessity,the working closely together of police forces
of England and North of the Border.
It
saw the introduction for
Lancashire Constabulary of the new major incident room
standardized administrative procedures. The circumstances high-
light value of constructive publicity as aresource forthe
investigator. Many other facets of themurder investigation
processes were brought to bear,not least fingerprint evidence.
On
January
II,
1984 thebody of a 46 yearoldbachelor
and
supermarket owner, Eric Wandless Renton, was discovered in the
bathroom
of his bungalow in the villageof Charnock Richard near
Chorley, Lancashire. He had been stabbed to death. Early inquiry
ascertained that property including the miner's safety lamp was
missing fromthe house aswas the deceased's Ford Sierra motor car
A201
ACK.
Amurder incident room was set up atChorley Police Station and
widespread searches were instigated for the recovery of the red Ford
Sierra. On Thursday,
January
12, 1984, thevehiclewasfound
abandoned on thetopfloorof amulti-storey car park in
Dagenham, Essex. Clearly the investigation now took on another
dimension for it was notas localized as first considered. There was a
need to investigate in the Dagenham area and obviously to discover
by whom thecar hadbeen left inits parking place.
A witness hadfirst noticed it on thecar park as earlyas 7.45 a.m.
on Wednesday,
January
11, 1984, soit wouldseem that the vehicle
had been driven fromthe scene of themurder very shortly after the
crime had been committed.
It
was necessary to establish asatellite
incident room in the localityof therecovered vehicle, so the
Metropolitan Police quickly rendered assistance, allocated the top
floor of Barking Police Station and provided also the necessary
technical resources for the management of the inquiry. The incident
control room was set up,of all days,on Friday,
January
13, 1984.
The investigation team was accommodated in amotelonthe
outskirts of Dagenham.
The
life-style of the victimEric Wandless Renton did little to
simplify the operation. He was a known homosexual with a
propensity for picking up young male hitch-hikers 0]1 journeys
288 October /985
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