James Campbell

James Campbell was a policeman investigating a robbery at a jeweller's when he was shot late on Saturday night 18 January 1919.

The burglar shot him and escaped after James Campbell surprised him up a staircase at the back court of 637 Great Eastern Road.

He later died in the Royal Infirmary on Monday 20 January 1919.

The burglar had fired two shots, one of which had caught him in his neck and the other in his abdomen.

James Campbell had gone into the back of 637 Great Eastern Road and up a stair, which was close to a jeweller's shop where he saw a young man moving in a suspicious manner and assumed he was a burglar and attempted to grapple him. However, the man pulled out a revolver and shot him twice. James Campbell then fell to the floor and the man ran off.

The sound of the shots attracted people's attention and James Campbell was soon found and taken to hospital.

Before he died James Campbell gave a brief description of the man who he said was under 20 years old.

Several people were arrested for his murder but no one was tried.

A £200 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of the murderer.

James Campbell had been in the Eastern Division of the police force and was married with three children and had lived on Thomson Street.