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1909 Tottenham Outrage Robbery


1909 Tottenham Outrage Robbery

The robbery of the factory here caused a legendary car chase.

Location: Tottenham High Road, London

Description: PC William Tyler and 10-year-old Ralph Joscelyne were murdered and 21 people injured by two anarchist robbers trying to escape after a robbery.

Paul Hefeld and Jacob Lepidus were Latvian immigrants who stole the wages from Schnurrman's rubber factory on the corner of Tottenham High Road and Chestnut Road on 23 January 1909.

The two were armed with pistols, and when the chauffeur-driven car carrying the wages clerk drew up they seized the cash bag and shot at the driver and a passing stoker who tried to restrain Lepidus. The shots brought reserve constables William Tyler and Albert Newman running from the police station, later joined by officers from the nearby section house on bicycles, and thus began the long chase during which the anarchists would fire over 400 rounds at their many pursuers.

At Mitchley Road Mission Hall PC Newman urged the chauffeur to try to run down the gunmen with the wages car. In response, Lepidus and Hefeld shot and injured Newman and the chauffeur, and shot Little Ralph Joscelyne as he ran for the cover of the car. The boy was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival. Police in the station now smashed open the locked firearms cupboard to bring pistols to the pursuit.

At a railway footbridge leading to Tottenham Marshes, PC Tyler took advantage of the wall cutting off Lepidus and Hefeld's view to race over race ground and catch up with them. 'Come on, give in. The game's up,' he said. Hefeld deliberately shot him in the face at point-blank range. Tyler bled to death in the scullery of a nearby cottage.

The chase became almost farcical as the two men commandeered a tram and forced the conductor to drive it when the driver hid upstairs. The police commandeered a tram going in the opposite direction and made it reverse after them, the occupants of the two trams firing ineffective shots at each other. The conductor got rid of his unwanted passengers by warning them there was a police station round the corner. The gunmen tumbled out and commandeered a parked milk van, immediately wrecking it by cornering too fast. They then stole a parked greengrocers van, but could not force the horse into more than the slowest of ambles because they had omitted to release the break.

The two men then abandoned the van and ran along a path beside Chingford Brook. When the path petered out, leaving them trapped by a high fence, Lepidus scrambled over it. Hefeld was exhausted, and seeing he was about to be arrested, shot himself in the head. He was taken to hospital where he refused to speak until he died three weeks later, with the uninformative remark, My mother is in Riga. Lepidus, meanwhile, locked himself into the bedroom of a nearby cottage, and used his last bullet to kill himself as officers broke in and fired shots through the door at him.


Themes: CrimeCrime Theme  MurderMurder Theme  MotoringMotoring Theme
Submitted by: Ade  Ade
Ranking This Month: 138/1947
Pages Hit This Month: 10
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location.php?loc=441
Credits: http://www.met.police.uk

1909 Tottenham Outrage Robbery

The robbery of the factory here caused a legendary car chase.


The Shady Old Lady points out that you can drag this map using mouse. Or visit our full massive map.


1» what a fantastic account of a very sad event. The two who died; PC William Tyler and 10 yr old Ralph Joscelyn are buried near each other in Abney Park cemetary in Stamford Hill. Stoke Newington. 500 thousand people turned out for the funeral and also 3 thousand Police officers lined the route. (jonathan clinch)
Posted by jonathan clinch on 2007-03-29
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