…time for The Broadmoor Siren!
My nearest siren is about 8 miles away, and on a dampish day you can still hear the weird symphony of them all together. For those of us inclined to think in terms of security theatre, I suspect it qualifies:
The siren was installed following a public outcry at the escape of child-murderer John Thomas Straffen in April 1952. Straffen had a history of mental illness and was sent to Broadmoor after he strangled two young girls in Bath in 1951. Six months later, Straffen went over the wall, with little difficulty, and walked away. In the nearby village of Arborfield he strangled five-year-old Linda Bowyer, who had been out for a ride on her bicycle. He was recaptured by police shortly afterwards.
Straffen was controversially tried, found guilty and initially sentenced to hang, but was reprieved by the Home Secretary, and sent instead to a series of maximum security prisons. At the age of 75 in 2005, he has the distinction of being Britain’s longest-serving prisoner. He continues to protest his innocence of the Bowyer murder.
So why isn’t every largish town near a major prison – eg Long Larten or Parkhurst – so equipped with sirens in the surrounding towns? Or was it implemented just to shut people up?
“Local residents however will always be reminded on Monday morning at 10 o’clock that every parent’s worst nightmare could one day happen again.”
Hmmm…
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