Brave South Yorkshire Police officers who overwhelmed Sheffield gunman remembered 63 years on

PCs Gilbert Robertson and Denis Hastings forced their way into the toilets of the, now closed, East House pub on New Years Day in 1960. The gunman, Mohamed Ismail, had barricaded himself in, but the brave, unarmed policemen managed to overwhelm him, stopping the incident from potentially becoming even more devastating.

The shooting lead to the deaths of three people and Ismail was charged with three counts of capital murder, before doctors at the time declared him “insane” and he was sent to Broadmoor. A Sheffield Telegraph article at the time reported the incident:

“Three men were killed and two were injured when a man produced a revolver and started shooting in a crowded smoke-room of a Sheffield public house last night.

“One man died immediately. Two died at Sheffield Royal Infirmary. Sheffield police announced early this morning that a man had been taken into custody in connection with the deaths.”

Michael Macfarlane, George Fred Morris and Thomas Owen all died in the shooting, with Michael’s brother, Donald, requiring “major brain surgery” that ultimately saved his life. South Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable, Lauren Poultney, said: “PCs Gilbert Robertson and Denis Hastings served their community with the utmost bravery that night, thinking quickly and diffusing the situation.

“Police officers can receive all the training in the world, but nothing will quite prepare you for a situation like this which required them to risk their own safety to remove a weapon from a volatile situation.” PCs Robertson and Hastings managed to remove Ismail’s revolver from his grasp, which a Guardian article from the time said was “cocked with a round still in it”.

63 years on from that day, Gilbert Robertson’s grandson, Will Banks, is hoping to produce a radio programme telling the story of this incident. He said: “We know he was first on the scene and he was told the man was in the toilet so they went in and arrested him. It’s difficult to put into words. It’s amazing to think this happened to a member of your family.

"The whole story is on the internet but it’s not something I knew much about. I want to learn more about this to learn more about Grandpa and to share that with future generations of the family.”

Will is hoping to here from anyone who remembers anything from the incident for the programme. He can be contacted on [email protected].