This was one of the big trials of the early 1980`s as it was for the attempted murder of a uniformed Police Officer, Philip Olds. PC Olds stumbled across biker Stuart Blackstock and an accomplice robbing an Off-licence(Liquor store) in Hayes, West London, in December 1980. When challenged, Blackstock produced a handgun, pointed it at the officer and shot him. Philip Olds was very seriously injured. The bullet hit him in the spine, crippling him for life. A manhunt soon had Blackstock in custody, and then put on trial. To the astonishment of everybody, Blackstock was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of wounding PC Olds with intent. I remember the report in the Daily Mirror saying that Blackstock smiled when cleared of attempted murder. He received a minimum sentence of seventeen years.
Blackstock twenty years later, received compensation because his parole hearing was delayed at length, and to the disgust of the Police, received around £6,000. He was paroled in 2002, claiming that he had apologised to the Olds family(Wow!) and wanted to rebuild his life. PC Olds did not fare so well. In 1986, he was found dead from a drink and drugs overdose. It was said that he could not come to terms with his being paralysed, a case eerily echoed recently by the suicide of PC David Rathband, an officer blinded when shot in the face by that alleged "Role Model" Raoul Moat. Officers having difficulty in adapting to lifetime disabilities by violent gunmen.
All reports said that Blackstockwas a Hells Angel. Was he an actual member of The Big Red Machine, or was he one of those labelled a HA because most people did not know the difference? Whatever, Blackstock can still walk about, an ability he robbed from his victim.
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