The Wrong Man: The Shooting of Steven Waldorf and The Hunt for David Martin by Dick Kirby

them. Her name was Susan Stephens, a 25-year-old former model and dancer who lived at 29 Victoria Road, Kilburn. She was also Martin’s girlfriend but this intelligence had not been passed to the police, since they were also unaware of Martin’s identity; in any event, Miss Stephens had identified herself to the staff at Pickfords as Miss Freeson, a name she had used as a model. Stephens had first met Martin, probably in May 1982, possibly at The Embassy Club and had occasionally gone out with him. He seemed, she would later say, ‘besotted’ with her and in November, she would move into a flat at West End Lane, Hampstead. The incriminating evidence remained undisturbed at Pickfords for the next five months. Meanwhile, since Martin had unaccountably and fortuitously come into a great deal of money, he and Miss Stephens were off on a month-long holiday in Ibiza.

    Almost six weeks had passed since PC Carr had been shot and the lukewarm trail had grown cold. Then, on the morning of 15 September 1982, a customer entered Armalon Ltd, the gun dealer’s premises at Harrowby Street whose owner had previously been interviewed by the police, and purchased some special ‘Pachmayer’ pistol grips. He also wished to purchase a 9mm magazine but since this was not immediately available, he placed an order for it. Mr Sarony politely requested contact details from the buyer and just as courteously, the customer provided a telephone number and his name, and left the shop. The name he had given, ‘Demain’, instantly rang alarm bells with the dealer who promptly passed the purchaser’s details and his description to Detective Constable Peter Finch at Marylebone Lane police station.
    Now the police had a very promising lead. A check on the telephone number revealed that it was an ‘Aircall’ number; it related to an answering machine situated in an inspection pit, at the bottom of a lift shaft in Wigmore Street, W1. From the ‘Aircall’ company they obtained an address: flat no. 16 on the seventh floor of 1–3 Crawford Place, W1.
    Initially, just two officers, Police Constables Steve Fletcher and Steve Lucas, were sent to the flats; neither armed. Fletcher told me:

    Steve and I found the front door on the first floor at the back. We sat for a few hours, not very well concealed, nattering and smoking fags. We were later relieved by a team of four officers; I think two of them were armed. One of the armed officers was PC Peter Van-Dee, another crime squad colleague. Peter was an interesting man. He had dual nationality – United States and British. I think he had served in the Met, left and joined the police in America – Portland, Oregon, from memory – he then returned to the UK and rejoined the Met.

    More officers, some of them armed, from the investigating team quickly surrounded the flat. Others were on the roof and more in the surrounding streets.
    At about 9.40 that evening, Martin, who had arrived back in the United Kingdom three days earlier, turned up at the block of flats; but the officers were unaware of it. Police Constable Steven Lucas (who had earlier been relieved from duty but had now returned) and Detective Constable Peter Finch were on the seventh floor when they saw what they assumed to be a woman, carrying a black handbag walking along a long corridor. As PC Lucas would later tell an Old Bailey jury:

    This person had long fair hair and a striped yellow T-shirt and was wearing trousers. The person looked effeminate. At first, we stood back, believing it to be a woman but then we approached and DC Finch said, ‘Excuse me, love …’ The person was standing by the door, about to put a key in. She turned round and it was David Martin. He was holding a large black handgun and at that point, DC Finch grabbed him bodily.

    As the officer struggled with Martin, he shouted, ‘I’ll have you – I’ll blow you away!’ DC Finch shouted to the other officers who were on the roof and they were quickly joined by