The bloodbath at Birch Services - and the gentle giant who escaped with his life
He was a gentle giant of a cop who survived being shot in an incident which shocked Britain. Sergeant James Bowden, who has died aged 78, was one of two officers who carried out a routine check which led to a cold blooded killing by a gunman with a grudge.
He then levelled a pistol at the newly promoted Inspector Codling and shot him, striking the left side of his chest into his heart. Then, as he lay helpless, he fired a second bullet into Insp Codling's head. Tributes were paid to Inspector Codling by then Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Labour leader Neil Kinnock.
Armed police had moved into the Yorkshire town after Hughes appeared at the home of a Catholic priest. He asked where Father Maurice Keenan was and then went next door to a primary school, bursting into the staff room and demanding to see the priest. Teachers evacuated 100 children from the school. At Inspector Codling's funeral, Chief Constable James Anderton told mourners at Blackley Crematorium: "In a few moments of indescribable brutality and horror the Codling family lost their loved one, the Greater Manchester police force a first class inspector and the public a faithful servant. And all because a cruel and senseless criminal was at odds with himself and the world."
In a memo to retired officers, the National Association of Retired Police Officers said: "I'm sad to notify that retired sergeant James Bowden passed away on 8th December at Fairfield Hospital, Bury, aged 78 years.
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