Alec Eist

Alexander Anthony Eist[1] (known as Alec) (26 March 1929 – 27 January 1982)[2] was a detective at Scotland Yard during the 1960s and 1970s. He is particularly notable for the many allegations of corruption made against him. These included complicity in jewel robberies and providing false alibis to criminals. He later provided testimony to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations regarding the assassination of Martin Luther King, whose killer—James Earl Ray—had been in his custody following Ray's escape to London in 1968.

Eist served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, for which he was decorated.[2] As a policeman, he was awarded the British Empire Medal for bravery in 1968, following his disarming of a man with a rifle. Despite the allegations of corruption that followed him for much of his career—and resulted in his being returned to uniform police duties before retirement and then facing a failed prosecution after it—Eist was never convicted of any such crimes. Throughout his career, Eist was awarded several decorations for conduct and bravery. Following his retirement, he ran the 'Green Man' pub in Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire.

Early life and career

Medal record of Alec Eist from the Merchant Navy database, Board of Trade

Alec Eist was born in Cardiff on 26 September 1929. He joined the Merchant Navy as an Able Seaman around the time the Second World War was ending in Europe in May 1945. Having served for nearly three years, Eist joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable in June 1948.[3]

British Empire Medal

The old Wembley police station, now converted into a restaurant, seen in 2017

In 1967, Eist, then a sergeant based in Cheshunt, was awarded the British Empire Medal for bravery in single-handedly disarming an armed suspect.[4] On 14 February that year, The London Gazette reported that following a series of reported robberies, the suspect's car was spotted, and Eist was one of a number of officers called in to provide backup. A man with a rifle was observed in the property's basement, and he subsequently escaped into the back garden, where he proceeded to sit on a wall threatening to shoot the officers if they approached. Eist recognised the man as an escaped prisoner who, according to the Gazette, was well known to be a "vicious and callous criminal". The man jumped into an adjacent garden, continuing to threaten the policemen, who in return threw flowerpots at him. Cornered at the end of the garden, the man pointed his rifle at each of the officers and threatened to fire if they approached. "Despite the threats", says the Gazette, Eist and a colleague tackled the man and disarmed him. The rifle was found to be loaded with three .22-calibre bullets with a fourth in the breech.[5]

Joins the Flying Squad

In May 1968 Eist joined the Flying Squad[note 1] under Harold "Tanky" Challenor[note 2] and was swiftly promoted to detective sergeant (second class).[7] Eist eventually reached the rank of Detective Chief Inspector. He was appointed—with Chief Superintendent James Marshall[9]—head of the Wembley Robbery Squad,[10] where they encountered Bertie Smalls, head of the Wembley Mob.[9] Eist had an in-depth and extensive knowledge and understanding of both London's underworld and the geography it occupied.[4] The gangster Freddie Foreman described Eist as a "rebel cop", who would get drunk and stand on pub tables singing.[11] The police historian Dick Kirby describes Eist as "always controversial",[12] as was his relationship with senior offices. In an anecdote from Eist's tenure at Holloway:[13]

On one occasion Eist was summoned before a senior officer to be upbraided for something he had done, or perhaps neglected to do. Far from apologising, Eist went on the offensive, pointing out the number of stolen lorry-loads he had recovered. "Alec", replied the other wearily, "before you came we didn't have any fucking stolen lorry-loads!"[13]

Involvement in the investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King

There isn't any doubt from the conversation that he told me, that he has admitted to me, that he had done the murder...For what it is worth, I haven't any doubt in my mind that he did that on his own. For whatever reason he did it...he did it on his own. If it had been anything, or anybody behind him on that particular job...during the various and many conversations I had with him, it would have come out.[14]

Eist's testimony to the HSCA, August 1978

In May 1968, following his assassination of Martin Luther King, James Earl Ray fled to London. On 8 June Ray was arrested at London Heathrow Airport attempting to leave for Brussels on a false Canadian passport.[15] Ray was placed in the personal custody of Eist,[14] first being held at Canon Row Police Station and then in Wandsworth Prison. Eist spent the first nine hours of Ray's custody with him in Canon Row, and whenever Ray was taken to the Old Bailey, they were handcuffed together.[16] Eist later recalled how, "initially, [Ray] didn't want to say anything to anybody", merely glaring at Eist. Eist thought that, probably because of their constant contact, Ray "began to look on me as somebody he could talk to". Eist helped Ray acclimatise to the British prison service, for example, by arranging for him to receive cutlery—which had initially been withheld in his custody for fear of suicide—and bringing him magazines. Ray's later biographer, Gerald Posner, believes that, on account of these niceties, "slowly the two developed a rapport, rare for Ray with anyone". Eist later recalled that, even so, Ray would not respond to specific questions, preferring to talk in generalities.[17] When Eist told Ray that the death of King had made little impact in Britain, Ray's response, said Eist, was "you haven't seen anything yet".[18]

Throughout Ray's subsequent extradition, trial and sentencing, US authorities were unaware of Eist's involvement with Ray. Eist had discussed it with various colleagues and companions over the years, but it was not until 1976 he met a USAAF officer then resident in London; Eist mentioned his association with Ray, and the officer advised him to contact the FBI. By then, there was a new investigation into the association planned by Congress.[19]

Testimony to the HSCA

Two years after his retirement, Eist testified under oath to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) on 9 November 1976—its first day of public evidence[19]—that Ray had mentioned disposing of a gun[20] on account of how Ray "had seen a policeman or police vehicle and thrown the gun away."[21] Eist's testimony, says Posner, "caught Ray and his then-attorney Mark Lane by surprise".[19] The journalist Pat McMichael has speculated that because Eist or his evidence was unknown and unsuspected in America, his evidence was "particularly damaging".[22] The Observer wrote at the time that Eist's evidence was the "biggest blow" to Ray.[23] Eist testified as to Ray's blatant racism: not only did Ray call African-Americans "niggers", Eist said, but "he also told me that he tried to get into Africa at some stage—he said to kill more of them".[22] Eist also reported that, while in British custody, Ray "seemed quite elated"—"brimming with confidence"—particularly as he believed he would receive payouts for television and media appearances.[24]

Then-chief crime reporter for the Daily Mail, Owen Summers, provided a character witness for Eist at the HSCA, in which he told the committee that he had known Eist for over 18 years and had "never been knowingly misled by Alec Eist and always found his information totally reliable".[25] One of the House Committee members, Chris Dodd, however, said he was "extremely disturbed" that Eist had not come forward with his evidence regarding Ray when the HSCA re-opened its investigations in 1977. Eist's answer—"in clipped tones"—was that he had been entangled in domestic affairs, namely his recent trial for corruption.[24] Summers also disputed Dodd's charge that Eist had remained silent regarding Ray. Eist, stated Summers, had told him 10 years previously, saying that he remembered Eist telling him that Ray had "coughed" to Dr King's killing. In Eist's defence, argued Summers, he had not submitted it as he believed that his paper would not consider it newsworthy.[24][note 3] Eist claimed that he had taken the advice of his American contact in Britain and reported it to the FBI's London station; however, the House Committee noted that it had failed to discover any records of Eist's report.[24]

Informants and accusations of corruption

Eist made liberal use of informants within the criminal community. Among his informers, he counted men such as Roy Garner, who was later convicted of smuggling cocaine,[10] and became both a supergrass[note 4] and a millionaire.[28] Eist tried to avoid making appearances in court wherever possible but would ensure that reward payments always included his informant's 10%. He often attended to it personally, although Kirby describes it as "questionable if the fee in its entirety was handed over to the snout".[29]

Eist has been described as either "the most corrupt or the best informed" Scotland Yard detective of his generation, argues the investigative journalist Martin Fido, noting how Eist "reputedly offered a sliding tariff of payments".[note 5] These payments would be in return for him dropping or otherwise failing investigations (although drawing the line, says Fido, at murder and rape).[32] The Guardian journalist Paul Lashmar has described Eist as "by reputation the most corrupt Yard officer of the 1950s to mid-1970s which was no small achievement in such a packed field".[33] Likewise, the intelligence scholar Duncan Campbell suggests that Eist was "one of the most active bent officers" of the period.[34] Kirby also suggests that "Eist's probity was also questionable", and describes occasions on which individuals were arrested for crimes that his informers had committed.[7] Reg Dudley—a North London "career criminal"[34] who was wrongfully convicted of double murder in 1977—was a fence during the 1960s and had, he wrote, a "close relationship" with Eist, whom he calls "bent". Dudley asserts that "for a few grand channelled through [Dudley], Alec would do what he could to make evidence 'disappear'".[35] Kirby asserts that Eist was close enough to Dudley and other villains of the day to socialise with. He notes a contemporary of Eist's at Holloway saying that an "obviousl...surveillance photo" existed of various London gangsters on a cruise ship, where "skulking in the shadows one could see the unmistakable features of Alec Eist".[13] Eist has been alleged to also have had links to the perpetrators of the Baker Street robbery, obstructed some of the prosecutions, and later been paid off[33] with jewellery from the robbery's proceeds.[36]

Accusations of corruption also bogged down Eist's appearance before the HSCA. His evidence was questioned by Ray's defence attorney Mark Lane. Lane told the committee that Eist had been "dismissed in disgrace" from Scotland Yard, and cited charges of corruption, perjury and robbery: "if you knew of this man's background, you have done a disservice to the American people by raising the charges" he argued, and considered that accepting Eist's evidence at face value amounted to "perhaps the most outrageous thing this committee has ever done". After the hearing, Lane told journalists that, although he only knew what he did from a British lawyer to whom he had spoken on the phone, the lawyer believed Eist "was possibly the most corrupt man in the modern history of Scotland Yard".[14] Eist rejected Lane's assertions, describing them as "absolutely untrue".[37] Contemporaneous news reports describe the House Committee as being divided on whether to accept Eist's evidence.[24]

So far as I am concerned I cannot understand how a so-called qualified lawyer could come out with such a statement without at least checking the facts. Even in American law there must be some recourse to action. What he said is absolutely untrue and I am suffering because of it.[37]

— Alec Eist, 19 August 1978, The Washington Post

Eist said, "I live in a very small village and this is crucifying me". He suggested that Lane's allegations were a defence strategy to shift culpability for King's assassination onto the FBI, who, Eist said, "could not have acted more honourably to get that man brought to justice" and that "absolutely no way" had they been involved.[37]

However, although Lane accused Eist of having stood trial for bribery and having been suspected of involvement in jewel robberies across England, Eist was only ever charged on one count involving a false alibi and perverting the course of justice. This charge had been dropped as the name of the arresting officer had been mistaken as Eist,[38] and the judge—instructing the jury to bring in a verdict of not guilty—said "I have come to the conclusion that there is no evidence to link him with any of the counts in which his name appears".[37] He was released immediately and the British government paid for his defence.[38]

Later life

One of Eist's last high-profile successes came in January 1975 when he was commended for "outstanding diligence and detective ability leading to the arrest and conviction of an active and violent gang of robbers". On this occasion, he was also commended at the Old Bailey and by the Director of Public Prosecutions.[3]

The arrival of Ernie Millen as Chief Superintendent of the Flying Squad led to procedural and philosophical changes: no longer could officers arrest stooges in place of their own informants, and the practice of arresting criminals in the act but letting ones' informants at the scene escape was also quashed. This was a new practice that, Kirby argues, must have caused "considerable unease" to officers such as Eist.[39] The author Gordon Bowers describes Eist as being "under a cloud" over alleged corruption in the last years of his career,[34] for which he was investigated by Detective Chief Inspector Alan Rattray, although no charges were brought.[40][note 6]

The Green Man public house, Six Mile Bottom, as seen in 2016

Eist was returned to uniformed police duties in 1975,[34] with responsibility for monitoring traffic wardens.[41] Officers involved in Operation Countryman—the investigation into corruption within the Metropolitan Police instigated by Sir Robert Mark in 1978—believed Eist to have received jewels from the Baker Street robbery,[36] and in 1980 one of those arrested for the crime, Mickey Gervaise, named Eist as an accessory.[36]

Over the course of Eist's 28-year career, he was awarded somewhere between 13[3] and 28 commendations.[37][note 7] With Dudley now arrested and facing a murder trial, Eist was placed on 90-days' sick leave.[12] Eist retired on 26 February 1976[3] on medical grounds rather than through criminal charges or accusations.[36][41] Kirby describes his mental health as being, by then, "fragile".[12] He opened a pub, the Green Man,[37] in Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire,[14] where he died on 27 Jan 1982.[42][note 8]

In 2002, three of Eist's medals—the BEM, his War Medal 1939–1945 and the Police Exemplary Service Medal—were auctioned in London. Estimated at between 492 and 655, they sold for 1966.[3]

Posthumous allegations

Allegations of corruption continued to emerge after Eist's death. In a May 1982 investigation by The Observer, the paper cited the 1970s gangster Joe Cannon as having "significant evidence" against Eist, who Cannon also accused of personally robbing him of £200 in cash.[44] Freddie Foreman later suggested that Eist "used to invite villains to his promotion parties" in hotels such as the Dorchester, where Eist would warn the attendees of any approaching police attention that he was aware of, Foreman claimed.[30] Criminals involved in such high-profile raids as the 1980 silver bullion robbery also made allegations against Eist. One, Michael Gervaise, made the "startling allegation" to a court in 1982 Eist was one of several high-ranking police officers bribed and who had "actively participated in robberies as part of [Gervais'] gang".[45] Freddie Foreman, recalling how Eist persuaded Foreman and his gang against carrying out an armed robbery, said in his view Eist could[11]

Make a right pest of himself when he was drunk. But he was as much a crook as any of us and quite capable of doing anything. It was much easier to hold your hand out for a few bob than to have a shoot-out, and he was a pragmatist. He had his ear to the ground and knew who was who on the London scene. Often he worked undercover and posed as a crook. He was a right rascal, but you could live with him. At the same time, he also nicked a lot of people. He’d nick you as quick as look at you if it was safe to do so. But he was very good with us. If anyone was in trouble he’d work a bit of bail and try and help us in court.[11]

Notes

1. The Flying Squad (also known as the Robbery Squad and nicknamed The Sweeney, from the Cockney rhyming slang "Sweeney Todd") is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service.[6]
2. Challenor had joined the squad three months prior to Eist.[7] According to author Lee Sturley, Challenor—who was later arrested for corruption, found incompetent to stand trial and subsequently got a job with his defence solicitors—"was definitely bent".[8]
3. This was because, at the time, English law did not allow the publication of a defendant's confession until his trial had begun.[24]
4. "Supergrass" is a British slang term for an informant who turns Queen's evidence, often in return for protection and immunity from prosecution. In the British criminal world, police informants have been called "grasses" since the late 1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those who witnessed against fellow criminals in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.[26][27]
5. The "sliding scale" metaphor was later brought to public attention when City of London Police Chief Inspector Philip Cuthbert's taped words were played in a corruption trial. Cuthbert was heard to say,

   The rules used to be, if you were an Inspector or Chief Inspector you went through the fucking sliding scale, the same as it used to be at the Yard. Don't pretend: it used to go to the top of the fucking tree, up to Assistant Commissioners.[30][31]

6. Rattray himself was investigated in 1983 for corruption and subsequently demoted.[40]
7. "A commendation for each of his 28 years of police service which [Eist] says is 'way above average'", reported The Washington Post.[37]
8. Following Eist's death, Michael Gervaise—by then a supergrass with his trial approaching—was advised by Detective Chief Superintendent, that it was lucky for Dixon that Eist had died, said Gervaise later, "so I wouldn't have to worry about him".[43]

References

1. Kirby 2013, p. 199.
2. TNA 2019.
3. DNW 2002.
4. Kirby 2013, p. 39.
5. London Gazette 1967.
6. Old Bill 2009.
7. Kirby 2013, p. 38.
8. Sturley 2015, p. 66.
9. Jennings, Lashmar & Simson 1990, p. 33.
10. Jennings, Lashmar & Simson 1990, p. 19.
11. Foreman 2009, p. 121.
12. Kirby 2018, p. 244.
13. Kirby 2018, p. 240.
14. Barnes 1978.
15. Borrell 1968.
16. Posner 1998, p. 51.
17. Posner 1998, p. 52.
18. Posner 1998, p. 53.
19. Posner 1998, p. 56.
20. Hancock & Wexler 2012, p. 447 n.53.
21. Waldron & Hartmann 2008, p. 592.
22. McMichael 2013, p. 247.
23. Marks 1978, p. 4.
24. Albright & Lewis 1978, p. 10A.
25. HSCA 1979, p. 46.
26. Brain 2010, pp. 42–43.
27. Greer 1995, p. 1.
28. Sengupta 1998.
29. Kirby 2013, pp. 38–39.
30. Campbell 1996, p. 3.
31. Neville 2017, p. 397.
32. Fido 2000, p. 53.
33. Lashmar 2016.
34. Campbell 2019, p. 235.
35. Dudley 2002.
36. Bowers 2016, p. 210.
37. Snoddy 1978.
38. Posner 1998, pp. 56–57.
39. Kirby 2013, p. 42.
40. Leigh & Lashmar 1983, p. 3.
41. Posner 1998, p. 57.
42. Kirby 2018, p. 246.
43. Leigh & Lashmar 1982c, p. 3.
44. Leigh & Lashmar 1982a, p. 2.
45. Leigh & Lashmar 1982b, p. 11.

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