THE daughters of a man hanged for murdering two police officers in Kirkheaton have spoken for the first time.

They talk of their “childhood from hell” after their father Alfred Moore was executed in 1952.

The three women – who don’t wish to be identified – want to clear their dad’s name.

They contacted former Huddersfield detectives Steven Lawson and Collin van Bellen, who are investigating the case.

After studying more than 200 pages of Moore’s trial records from the National Archives, the former police officers are convinced the prosecution case against him was weak, with no forensic evidence and a flawed identification parade.

Mr Lawson said the three women were still deeply effected by their father’s execution.

He said: “We have been meeting with the daughters for some time but they are still traumatised by what has happened.

“Now the matter is back in the public domain they want to get involved and clear their father’s name.

“They are aware that two police officers died and their families were ripped apart but they want the truth to come out.

“They and we would like to see Alfred Moore’s name cleared by the Court of Appeal. They want to gather enough evidence to send to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and urge them to take it forward to the appeal court.”

Moore was suspected of being a prolific burglar who targeted mills.

On the night of July 14, 1951, 10 police officers surrounded his farmhouse at Cockley Hill in Kirkheaton, hoping to catch him returning home with his haul.

Two of the officers were shot while trying to arrest a man who was approaching the house.

Duncan ‘Jock’ 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 later.

As Pc Jagger he lay dying in his hospital bed on July 15 he picked out Moore from a nine-man identity parade.

Moore was found guilty of murder and hanged at Armley Prison in Leeds in 1952.

He had four daughters.

Daughter A is 67 and lives in the North. She was previously married and has children. Daughter B passed away three years ago.

Daughter C is 65 and lives in the South of England with her family. Daughter D is 58. She is married with children and living in the South.

THIS is a letter sent by the daughters of Alfred Moor outlining how their father's conviction and subsequent hanging affected their lives and why they now want to see his case re-investigated.

“We are the daughters of Alfred Moore, who was executed in 1952 for the murder of two policemen in Huddersfield.

“Losing your father at an early age is traumatic for any child but to lose your father the way we lost ours was devastating, not just for us but for our mother too.

“We have been asked why we haven’t launched a campaign sooner to clear our dad’s name.

“Try to put yourselves in our position and consider what it was like for four very frightened little girls, all under the age of 10, and a mother who had a breakdown after dad’s death and never recovered.

“Knowing that the police had taken our dad, locked him up and then he was killed for something he did not do was beyond our comprehension.

“The eldest daughter was bullied and abused into saying what the superintendent wanted her to say. She was locked in a room with him for more than half a day, not given anything to eat or drink and was shaken and shouted at and called a liar when she continued to tell the truth.

“We suffered the attention of reporters chasing us for photographs. Our home was destroyed and we stood by watching strangers take away all our belongings and animals from the farm.

“We were shunned by all our friends and acquaintances. No one stood by us, we were left totally alone to cope with the aftermath.

“We felt shame, fear and hunger. We didn’t know where our next meal was coming from and we didn’t fully understand why. To this day the fear and shame has never left us.

“We moved around a great deal in the beginning. We went from Yorkshire to Brighton, then London for a short while and eventually we returned to Yorkshire where we settled for a few years.

“The ‘Incident’ as it became known, wasn’t discussed among us children for fear of upsetting mum. We tried to pretend that it never happened. Our social development was stunted. Our schooling suffered terribly as mum didn’t like being left on her own and we were never in one place very long.

“We didn’t really mix with other people nor have anyone we could call a real friend.

“Our mother never recovered from dad’s death. She tried very hard to keep us together and put food in our mouths, but she had changed. She became a very hard woman and could sometimes be described as cruel. We had a childhood from hell.

“As we approached adulthood three of us were able to form normal lives away from mother. We became estranged from the rest of the family. Mother moved once again and our eldest sister went with her even though mother’s cruelty was often aimed at her.

“She never lost the feeling that she was responsible in some way and thought it was her duty to look after mother. We didn’t meet again for 40 years.

“We finally managed to trace our eldest sister. Our reunion was great but, as you can imagine, our main topic of conversation was dad. After all these years we could finally be open and talk about the ‘Incident’.

“We learned the full details of what happened that night for the first time. Someone was always throwing doubt on dad’s conviction, but they were never able to prove anything.

“We also considered the fact that our dad, although never convicted, was a self confessed burglar.

“Our answer to that is: Did he deserve to die the way he did for committing burglary?

“Although we desperately wanted to clear our dad’s name we thought that living was more important. Each of us had families and our children had been protected from the past.

“There are other people to consider as well. Two policemen lost their lives that night. Their families’ lives were also torn apart through no fault of their own. They believe the killer was brought to justice.

“But when our dad was wrongly accused and convicted, we believe these families were deprived of true justice.

“Some of the police involved in our dad’s case later received awards and commendations for the conviction. Who would believe us that these men actually got it wrong and convicted an innocent man?

“A year after our reunion articles started to appear in the Huddersfield Examiner on a more frequent basis. Our eldest sister was upset that it was all starting up again, so we decided to contact the man responsible for the investigation. We wanted to ask him to stop the investigation on humanitarian grounds if he didn’t have any hard evidence.

“In subsequent conversations and emails Steven Lawson and his colleague Colin have shown us there is a different way of clearing dad’s name. They have investigated the case thoroughly, discovered several discrepancies in the police evidence, and also discovered what may well be new evidence.

“They also believe that they have found the real killer. But the most important thing for us is that they really believe in our dad’s innocence.

“For the first time in our lives someone is actually helping us.

“We would like everyone to know that for us clearing dad’s name isn’t just about seeing justice done at last. It’s about giving our dad a decent burial where the family can visit his grave.

“But most important of all, it’s about helping a 10-year-old who blamed herself for not doing enough to prevent her father’s death to finally rid herself of the guilt.”