Memorial service for Blackpool police officer who received medal after notorious 1971 armed robbery in resort

Kenneth Mackay was one of the officers on duty on August 23 1971 when the police moved in on a five-man gang of armed robbers who had travelled up from London and raided Prestons jewellery shop on The Strand.

Tragically, Superintendent Gerry Richardson was shot and killed after bravely pursuing one of the robbers, while colleague PC Carl Walker was wounded in the thigh following the botched heist.

The case caused shockwaves not only in Blackpool but throughout the country, with Supt Richardson – described by colleagues as a natural leader – being one of the highest-ranking officers to be murdered in the line of duty in Great Britain.

Ken, as he was known by friends, could have been a fatality himself after he had a gun pulled on him by another of the robbers – dubbed the Crazy Gang - and the hardened villain pulled the trigger.

But by pure luck, the gunman had made an error in loading the weapon and it failed to go off.

Ken was able to trap and apprehend the robber down an alley and make an arrest – and later was one of several officers to receive the George Medal for bravery, at a ceremony in London.

Supt Richardson, who had also confronted one of the robbers – Joseph “Fat Freddie” Sewell - down an alley and was shot twice in the stomach, was posthumously awarded the George Cross and is commemorated by the road Gerry Richardson Way, adjacent to Blackpool Police Station.

Ken, a father-of-two who spent many years living in Carleton with wife Beryl, went on to have a distinguished career with the police in Blackpool, attaining the rank of Chief Superintendent before he retied.

After a period of declining health, he died in London, where he was living with his daughter, Lindsay Rumsey, on February 14 this year and a short funeral service was held in the capital.

However, there will be a memorial service at St Chad’s Church, Poulton, on on Tuesday April 11 at noon after which his ashes will interred at Carleton Crematorium.

Lindsay, 55, said: “My father was a very sociable person and he made a lot of friends over the years.

"He loved playing sports when he was younger and after he retired in 1994, aged 59, he became a keen golfer.

"For many years he was involved with the Rotary Club of Blackpool Palatine and enjoyed working on projects that helped people.

"He had a long service in the police but the robbery was his most high profile case – there was a big upset when Gerry Richardson was killed while on duty.

"When our father received his medal the whole family went down to London with him.”

Born and raised in Bury, Ken first joined the police in Burnley before transferring to a more challenging role with Blackpool CID in the late 1960s.

He excelled at Blackpool and moved through the ranks.

Sadly, Ken and Beryl’s daughter Tracey died in 1993 from a blood clot, aged just 32, and Beryl passed away in 2000 aged 62.

Ken leaves daughter Lindsay and her husband Mark, and their two daughters, Olivia, 22, and 20 year old Grace, as well as Tracey’s son Reece, aged 32, and daughter Cady, 29.