Nominated BEST BRITISH TRUE-CRIME PODCAST, 4th Best True-Crime Podcast by This Week, iTunes Top 25 Podcast, Podcast Magazine's Hot 50, The Telegraph's Top 5, Crime & Investigation Channel's Top 20 True-Crime Podcasts, also seen on BBC Radio, Sky News, The Guardian and TalkRadio's Podcast of the Week.
James Anderson & Michael Jamieson
Welcome to the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast and audio guided walk of London's most infamous and often forgotten murder cases, all set within and beyond the West End.
EPISODE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR: Between the 29th of August and 17th of September 1980, 23 year old Mickey Jamieson and 25-year-old James Anderson went on a 19-day crime spree of theft, assault, torture and murder. With most of them committed within streets of their own homes, their last crime occurred 12 and a 1/2 miles west in Shepherd's Bush Green. But why? What drove them to this part of the city?
THE LOCATION
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The location is marked with a teal green coloured symbol of a bin beneath the words 'Hammersmith'. To use the map, click it. If you want to see the other maps, click here.
SOURCES: This case was researched using some of the sources below.
MUSIC:
UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE: (Car speeding). Monday 8th of September 1980, nine days into a nineteen-day crime spree, Mickey & Jimmy were on the run. Across four robberies, they had stolen a total of £1500 (£8200 today), only to squander it all on “booze, birds and boogying”, as if these lame losers were criminal kingpins. Being cowardly half-wits who were uncapable of committing a single crime unless they were half-cut – with no plan, no preparation, no disguise and being drunk – two seemingly simple thefts had ended in a brutal double murder and an attempted murder owing to Mickey being a sadistic psychopath. They were as lazy as they were stupid, as so far every crime they’d committed and every victim they’d attacked was a neighbour in the community they had grown up in, until the last victim – Sebi the sub postmaster – had made it clear that he knew Mickey’s name. Leaving his fingerprints on a card, a bullet at the scene and his name on the victim’s tongue, having survived, the police now had Mickey’s details. Fearing his arrest, their pal John Hamiton had fled, Jimmy (as always) would minimise his involvement in either murder or attempted murder, and alongside Mickey - who wasn’t the brightest - they didn’t flee the country. In fact they barely left the county, having sped 7 ½ miles east to Romford in Essex. Split three ways, the £560 they’d swiped from Sebi’s till as he lay bleeding was spent within four days. On Friday 12th September 1980, being typically cowardly, that evening after a few pints, they burgled an unoccupied carpet shop on South Street, stealing just £29. With it barely being enough for a night in a hotel, they also burgled a newsagents at 61 Longbridge Road in Barking, just 2 ½ miles from home. With £329 in their pockets, even though their faces weren’t in the papers, it was only a matter of time before they were caught, so unable to party it up at Snob’s disco, they headed to Clacton-on-Sea. As a place Mickey had spent happy times at with his family, as well as part of an ill-fated rehabilitation programme with a detention centre, here they piddled away their ill-gotten gains on fairground rides, arcade machines, candy floss and (of course) getting trollied and chatting up girls. They didn’t give an ounce of remorse having brought misery and death to the East End, as all they cared about was fun. That Sunday, as the pounds became pennies, Mickey sent his mother (Shirley) a series of photographs taken in Clacton. The first showed Jimmy smiling, sat on a sun-drenched wall with a girl, arm-in-arm, looking happy and well. And the second was of Jimmy & Mickey, standing side by side. Out of context, they look like two lads enjoying a jolly at the seaside, not a serial robber and a sadistic psychopath. Arriving a few days later, on the back, Michael wrote ‘Sunday 14th of September 1980’. And although it seemed like a kindly gesture by a mummy’s boy, the detective’s presumed this was part of his alibi. The next day, Monday 15th September, Police raided every one of their known haunts; from Jimmy’s mum’s home in Hammersley Avenue, to Mickey’s mum’s house in Folkstone Road, the bedsit of every friend and associate, and every pub and club they were known to frequent including Snob’s disco. Police believed “they could be hiding anywhere in East London”, but having exhausted every possible hide-out and reduced to sleeping in an unused room in St Thomas’ hospital, they both headed west… …12 and a ½ miles west to Shepherd’s Bush. On the north of Shepherd’s Bush Green, between The Wellington pub, a bookies and the tube stood The Shoe Box at 122 Uxbridge Road. As an old-fashioned cobblers where men could get leather shoes handmade by an experienced craftsman, they’d been part of the community for more than a decade. Set in a five storey Victorian terrace, it had a basement for storage, a showroom on the ground floor with the shoe-maker’s workshop outback, the owner’s flat on the first floor, and the upper flats only accessible by a side door. Although quiet, it did well, but it rarely had two customers in at a go. The owner was 74-year-old Nathaniel Taylor known as ‘Nat’, a white-haired and bespectacled Jewish gentleman who – although a widower – was always smiling and always polite. His former employee Errol James said of him “he was a helpful peaceful man… very obliging and if you wanted something, and he hadn’t got it, he would make a point of going to Northampton to get it for you”. As a single man with a business which more than covered his overheads, Nat’s only vice was gambling, often popping a few doors down to the betting shop to place £5 or £10 a time on a horse. This was his little piece of fun, of which he didn’t accrue any debts, he only spent what he could afford and although he had a reputation for being a regular winner, this wouldn’t be the reason for his brutal murder. Across the 1970s, Shepherd’s Bush had become a hotbed of petty crime. Errol said “we always had trouble from gangs of youths trying to steal shoes and money. Nat was robbed at knifepoint several times” and – being wise enough - he knew never to fight back, he only kept a small amount of money in the till, and a local paper even reported “Mr Taylor blames it on the leniency of local magistrates”. On the 28th of February 1977 in the Gazette & Post, the headline read “Nat’s footnote could bring shoe thieves to heel”. They reported that “at 6:30pm on Friday evening, two men came in and asked to try on shoes. After being fitted with different styles, one of them forced Mr Taylor into a back room”, they pushed him to the floor and threatened him with a knife, as the other robber rifled the till of £15. With it being just a pitiful sum, “they grabbed four pairs of shoes which Mr Taylor tried to hide”, and fled. As an expert shoe fitter, Nat said “the two men would be easily recognisable… I’d just have to put a couple of shoes on their feet, and I’d know them instantly, because I fitted them in the shop”. Sadly, the robbers were never caught, but we know it wasn’t Mickey & Jimmy, as both of them were black. Nat knew that he didn’t have the strength to fight back, and that by being civil, he could usher the robbers out of his shop with only a small amount of money stolen and no injuries to himself… …only his nephew wouldn’t be so lucky. Two months later, on 27th of April 1977, 51-year-old Leonard Mintz was closing-up the shop on behalf of his Uncle Nat. As he was about to bolt the door, four youths dashed in, punched him to the ground, and as one held him at knifepoint, the others ransacked the shop taking £200 worth of cash and shoes. Although a former training instructor in the Army, Leonard didn’t fight back, so only treated for cuts to his lip and bruises to his legs, this robbery would be another close call for Uncle Nat and his nephew. Shepherd’s Bush Green was turning into a warzone, and although this was just two of several crimes perpetuated on the shop, the next was a random event by two boys, which would also be their last. Wednesday 17th of September 1980 was an ordinary day. Being term time, the warm pavements along Shepherd’s Bush Green were thick with shoppers as they shuttled between the market and the tube, sometimes stopping off at a cafe. As was his routine, at 3:30pm, Nat headed to the bookies and popped a note on the door saying ‘back in 10 minutes’. As a local, he knew the bad lads who he was to be wary of, but having fled East London owing to their faces being too well known, the next two assailants were a few doors down at The Wellington pub. Down to their last few pennies, Mickey & Jimmy sat supping the last of their pints of Harp lager. Again, they were drunk. Again, they had no plan. Again, they had no disguise. Again, they had no compassion. In court, Judge Miskin QC would state “it appears you were short of money again, and so to Shepherd’s Bush you went, looking for a quiet place to rob”. As with the post office, they picked a premises where the owner was alone, only this time he was unknown to them “and there was only one old man”. They’d claim “we picked it because it was close to the pub we were drinking in”, and being armed with knives and a gun, at about 3:40pm, they both entered, pretending to be prospective customers. Nat: “Good afternoon gents, what can I do for you?”, Nat would have said. Engaging in friendly banter, the boys would have looked harmless enough - being baby-faced and fair-haired - until from their jackets, both boys pulled six-inch blades, and Mickey smacked Nat squarely in the face, flooring him. Closing the door, as the Yale lock sealed the street from the looming violence within and a large display of shoes shielded the large window, Mickey pulled Nat into the back room, as Jimmy went hunting for money. As an old-fashioned shop, he didn’t see a cash till, so all he saw was an empty cash box. Mickey was fuming “Is that it? Where’s the till?”, “I don’t have one”, “there must be”, “there isn’t”, as with the Herbert’s, Mickey had mistakenly believed that there had to be a fortune stashed away, but having been robbed several times before, The Shoe Box only ever carried the bare minimum, and no matter how hard Mickey beat this elderly gentleman about the face, he had no more money to give. At about 3:45pm, Leonard, Nat’s nephew arrived to help ‘Uncle Nat’ lock up. Finding the door locked and the lights off, but no sign suggesting he was at the bookies, Leonard let himself in with his key. Had these grunting buffoons bothered to do any research, they’d have known that Leonard visited at the same time each day. Pulled inside and dragged upstairs, as Mickey drew the pistol on both men to keep them quiet - always an arse-coverer - Jimmy later told the court “I knew he'd a gun, but he didn’t plan to use it”. And yet, having described his pal as “a nutter, just plain evil”, he’d already seen how Mickey acted when he didn’t get what he wanted, and again, he’d gone along with it. As a cowardly alibi, Jimmy would claim “as I was searching for the till, I heard two shots”. Unarmed and defenceless, having put up no fight, Leonard & Nat were gunned down in cold blood. As they lay slumped on the floor and bleeding out as their heartbeats weakened, Mickey could simply have tied them up and fled. But because these single brain-celled bandits had shown their faces, left their fingerprints and said their own names, two good men were killed owing to two idiots’ stupidity. Leaving both men dying having been shot in the chest, onto this busy street, the dim-witted robbers ran, their faces not even hidden from the eager eyes of those who stared at them. Hailing a cab, even Martin Fleischner the cab driver would state “I had a sixth sense that something was wrong”, and having dropped them off Marylebone station, he contacted police upon hearing about the murders. Leonard & Nat were discovered within minutes, as a passing customer had been startled by the shots, heard a series of loud screams and groans, and - having looked in the window – she was barged aside as Mickey & Jimmy (not wearing disguises) ran from the shop and fled in a taxi. Peeping inside, “I saw a white-haired old man spread out over some fallen shoeboxes”, and although an ambulance and the police were called swiftly, Nat was already dead, and on-route to hospital, Leonard died of his injuries. Described by Detective Chief Inspector Michael O’Leary as “a coldblooded killing. Everything is nasty about it”, the police were “baffled by such a motiveless crime”, as nothing had been taken and £100 was found in the cash drawer. But with both assailants seen by witnesses, their palm prints found in the shop and a bullet matching the shooting of a sub postmaster on Katherine Road in East Ham, 23-year-old Michael Jamieson and 25-year-old James Anderson were wanted in East and West London. As desperate fugitives, they were on the run. So where did they flee to? Scotland, France, maybe to the Costa Del Sol, dubbed the Costa Del Crime as that’s where Britain’s thickest criminals run to? No. Being as brainless buffoons… …they headed home to Plaistow. With several streets still sealed off by police tape, two days later, every newspaper was emblazoned with their names, details and the latest photos that Mickey had sent his mother, unwittingly giving the police the most accurate description of themselves. And although they had warned “publicised our names and more innocent people will die”, with four people dead, these hoodlums had to be stopped. Speaking to their families, Jimmy’s mum said “he can’t be normal. If he came back, I’d show him in, give him a bed and then I’d go out and call the police”, whereas Mickey’s mum said “the newspaper’s report that Michael is a psychopath is complete rubbish”, only all the evidence would refute that. With the facts plastered across every paper, described as ‘Britain’s most wanted killers’, people were warned that they were ‘armed and extremely dangerous’, as well as ‘sick’, ‘deranged’ and ‘insane’. So, it made no sense for these two fugitives to head back to where they were known… but they did. On the morning of Saturday 20th of September 1980, having headed right into the heart of where they were being hunted, they knocked on the door of Jean McCarthy, an old school friend of Mickey’s mum at 60 Cecil Road in Plaistow. They’d picked a bad time to be outside, as the streets were crammed full of police, but maybe that was the point, as with Jean’s home just a short walk from Upton Park, as avid West Ham supporters, it’s likely they’d come back as their team were playing against Watford. Whether they wanted to watch the match on the telly, or simply to soak up the roar of the crowd via the window, at 10am, having knocked on the door, Kim Kirby, the pregnant 20-year-old tenant of the ground floor flat let them in. Kim would later state “we all went up to Jean’s flat”, but having seen the pictures of this murderous twosome in the papers, “Jean looked very scared, she went straight out and didn’t return”. That should have been the moment for Mickey & Jimmy to run? But they didn’t. They had a cuppa, they popped on the telly and in preparation for the match, they watched the news. Kim said “the TV news came on with their pictures, and I began shaking like a leaf, I hadn’t recognised them until then. I said ‘is that you?’, they replied ‘yes, it is’. I was frightened but both men were very nervous and panicky, which scared me even more”. On the screen, Mickey’s mother begged “for God’s sake, give yourself up”, and with Kim not wanting to be part of this, she left them in the first floor flat. Again, that should have been their moment for Mickey & Jimmy to run. But they didn’t. Having spent every penny of the £1870 they’d stolen (£10,000 today) on fun and fillies, they were stuck, as their closest friends had disowned them and their families refused to give them shelter, even though again, Mickey’s mum would state “I would stake my life that Michael had nothing to do with the killings”. At 12:30pm, police received a tip-off about their location. It’s uncertain why, but possibly having gone to the shops get a few cans of beer to watch the match, Mickey had gone outside in the daylight. By 1pm, Kevin Byrne, a neighbour was fixing his car, “when I saw a man running along with a revolver. Four policemen soon arrived, they were all armed“. So insistent were the police that these murderers be stopped dead or alive, that the street was blocked, police marksmen occupied homes on Cecil Road and Stopford Road with their guns trained on the flat, and a negotiator bellowed from a loud hailer. DC: “Mickey & Jimmy, you are surrounded, there is nowhere you can run, throw out your weapons and come out with your hands up”. Having barricaded themselves in, as a further six police marksmen crowded behind a wall, Detective Constable Kathro, the negotiator ordered “keep your hands on the window or we’ll fire”, as one of the boys shouted back “the only way you’ll get me out is in a box”. Only the police weren’t messing around, this wasn’t playtime, so with several officers having smashed down the door with a sledgehammer, rushing in, a single shot rang out across the street (BANG)… …but this wasn’t the boy’s fighting back, as having accidentally fired off a shot owing to nerves, they quickly surrendered, tossed out the gun, and bundled to the pavement, they were both arrested. After a two-hour armed siege, during which no-one was hurt, their 19-day crime spree had come to an end. Taken to East Ham and Plaistow police stations, when questioned, Mickey refused to say a single word, whereas Jimmy gave a detailed account of their crimes, during which he blamed all the cruelty and death on his former pal and limited his own involvement, which caused a massive rift between them. Two trials were held at the Old Bailey. The first was the murder of Joe & Kitty Herbert. As the recorder of both trials, although concluded on the 14th of October 1981, Judge Miskin QC decreed that no details of the first trial should be published until the second trial – the murder of Nathanial Taylor and his nephew Leonard Mintz - had resolved. On the 28th of November 1981, Jimmy arrived in court with severe razor slashes down his face, having been attacked – supposedly by Mickey - while on remand in Wandsworth prison. Blaming each other for the crimes they’d committed, Jimmy denied being involved in either murder or attempted murder, and although Mickey tried to plea insanity, the prosecution said “there is a difference between badness and madness, this was just plain evil, and it has nothing to do with diminished responsibility”. At both trials, with neither showing any remorse for those they had killed, they had laughed, whistled, shouted over the witness statements, and were kept apart owing to their hatred for one another. On 3rd December 1981, after four hours of deliberation, a jury of seven men and five women returned with a unanimous verdict. Of the attempted murder of Sebi the sub-postmaster, Mickey was found guilty of murder as only he was holding the gun. Of the murder the Herbert’s, Mickey was found guilty of murder, but Jimmy could only be convicted of conspiracy to rob. But of the killing of Leonard Mintz and Nathanial Taylor at The Shoe Box, both were found guilty of armed robbery and wilful murder. Sentenced that day, James Anderson bowed his head and showed no signs of emotion as he received two life sentences, of which he was would serve at least 20 years, plus 16 years for robbery and theft. Michael Jamieson who was described in court as “a born psychopath” yawned noisily and spat a sweet into the well of the court as his sentence was pronounced. Found guilty of all charges, he received five life sentences plus 19 years for robbery, of which he would have to serve a minimum of 30 years. Their first parole hearings were due in 2001 and 2011… …but their behaviour was no better in prison than out. In June 1983, Jimmy participated in a riot at Wormwood Scrubs prison. As one of six hostage situations that year, prisoners armed with dustbins and bed legs injured 25 warders as they overran D Wing. It was said by the Governor to have been “premeditated by a hard core of young and violent men”. A month earlier, Mickey was one of seven convicts moved to another prison having been instrumental in the three-hour riot at Albany prison on the Isle of Wight, during which – using wooden staves, metal bars and broken glass – they went on a rampage in 'B' block causing £1million worth of damage. Neither of them would settle into the prison life they had earned… …and although they had both done the crimes, it was Mickey who couldn’t serve the time. (End) In June 1990, Mickey was transferred to HMP Full Sutton, a category A, high-security prison in York. By October, he’d requested to be moved back to Wormwood Scrubs to be nearer to his family “due to his mental deterioration”, but this was denied as he was considered “a bad prisoner, and unruly”. On 25th November 1990, he wrote to his mother stating “I don’t want to go on living” and he’d thought of starving himself to death. On the Boxing Day, he sliced up his left arm, but with the wound only requiring 18 stitches, it wasn’t deemed “too serious”, as he’d exclaimed to the doctor “I feel better”. Overseen in the prison’s hospital wing, he was returned to a single cell on the 23rd of January 1991. At 8:10am, the next morning, John Welldrick, an orderly opened the hatch to see what he wanted for breakfast. “I spoke to him several times but he did not answer… he appeared to be looking out of the window from behind the curtains which were drawn”. The cell was in darkness, and having called for another orderly to help him, as they pulled back the curtains, they found Mickey kneeling, a ligature around his neck, held in place by the bars of the window. He had been dead for several hours. 43-year-old Michael Jamieson known as Mickey had spent more than half of his life in prison, borstals and detention centres. Whether he would have been released owing to his bad behaviour is uncertain, but with his father having been locked up at Broadmoor when Mickey was growing up, one question remains; was he just cruel, or (as the court decreed) was The Shoe Box Killer “a born psychopath”. The Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast has been researched using the original declassified police investigation files, court records, press reports and as many authentic sources as possible, which are freely available in the public domain, including eye-witness testimony, confessions, autopsy reports, first-hand accounts and independent investigation, where possible. But these documents are only as accurate as those recounting them and recording them, and are always incomplete or full of opinion rather than fact, therefore mistakes and misrepresentations can be made. As stated at the beginning of each episode (and as is clear by the way it is presented) Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast is a 'dramatisation' of the events and not a documentary, therefore a certain amount of dramatic licence, selective characterisation and story-telling (within logical reason and based on extensive research) has been taken to create a fuller picture. It is not a full and complete representation of the case, the people or the investigation, and therefore should not be taken as such. It is also often (for the sake of clarity, speed and the drama) presented from a single person's perspective, usually (but not exclusively) the victim's, and therefore it will contain a certain level of bias and opinion to get across this single perspective, which may not be the overall opinion of those involved or associated. Murder Mile is just one possible retelling of each case. Murder Mile does not set out to cause any harm or distress to those involved, and those who listen to the podcast or read the transcripts provided should be aware that by accessing anything created by Murder Mile (or any source related to any each) that they may discover some details about a person, an incident or the police investigation itself, that they were unaware of.
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AuthorMichael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster of Murder Mile UK True Crime and creator of true-crime TV series. 
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