Alfred Moore’s nephew meets ex-detective trying to clear his name

Jun 1 2010 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Alfred Moore’s nephew meets ex-detective trying to clear his name

THE nephew of a man hanged for a double police murder has met the investigator trying to clear his uncle’s name.

David Schofield, who lives in New Zealand, flew halfway round the world to visit former detective Steven Lawson in Huddersfield.

The Kirkheaton man is trying to clear the name of Alfred Moore, who was hanged in 1952.

Police suspected Moore was a prolific burglar of mills. On the night of July 14, 1951, 10 officers surrounded his farmhouse at Cockley Hill, hoping to catch him returning home with his haul.

Two of the officers were shot while trying to arrest a man as he approached the house.

Det Insp Duncan Fraser, 45, died at the scene and Pc Gordon Jagger, 42, was rushed to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Moore was arrested at his farmhouse a few hours after the shooting – but the gun was never found. One theory is that the killer fled, leaving Moore to take the blame.

As he lay dying in his hospital bed, Pc Jagger picked out Moore from a nine-man identity parade. This evidence was crucial in securing the conviction of Moore, who was hanged at Armley Prison in Leeds in 1952.

But Mr Lawson, who worked as a West Riding Constabulary detective from 1968 to 1974, believes the case against Moore was flawed.

His interest in the case was raised when he read a piece about Mr Schofield in the Examiner in 2006.