1983 Man shot by police hunting David Martin

A man has been critically injured in a police ambush in a west London street in what may be a case of mistaken identity.

Witnesses said marksmen surrounded a car in a traffic jam in Pembroke Road in Earls Court and opened fire.

The driver was shot several times in the head and body.

Scotland Yard said the ambush was part of an operation to recapture escaped prisoner David Martin.

He absconded from custody at Marlborough Street magistrates’ court last month where he was due to face a charge of attempting to murder a police officer.

But it remains unclear if the man shot was David Martin.

Two senior Scotland Yard officers have already been appointed to investigate the incident.

One of the first witnesses on the scene, secretary Jane Lamprill, said the man seemed very badly injured.

“He was about 30 but I couldn’t even see the colour of his hair because of the blood,” she said.

Another witness, Baroness Helen de Westenholz, saw some of the incident from her home which overlooks the scene.

She said: “Whilst I was watching I heard one or two more gunshot cracks but I couldn’t actually see where they came from.

“Then I saw that the driver of the Mini had sort of fallen out of his car, he was hanging out from the waist up on to the road with his head on the floor.”

The man is being cared for in the intensive care unit at St Stephen’s Hospital in Fulham Road, Chelsea.

Two other people, a woman and a man, were passengers in the car.

The man ran off after the shooting.

The woman was taken to hospital by police officers for the treatment of what are believed to be minor injuries.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The man shot in the ambush was later named as Stephen Waldorf.

Film editor Mr Waldorf, 26, had no direct connection to David Martin.

But police believed his female passenger, Sue Stephens, to be Mr Martin’s girlfriend.

Two officers, John Jardine and Peter Finch, stood trial for attempted murder and attempted wounding but were cleared of all charges in October 1983.

The pair remained in the police force but were barred from firearm duties.

Stephen Waldorf made a full recovery and eventually received £150,000 compensation.

David Martin was recaptured soon after the shooting but hanged himself in jail in 1984 before his trial.