Top police officer Sir Lawrence Byford dies

A leading police officer who wrote a groundbreaking report into the failings of the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper has died at the age of 92.
LEADING ROLE: Sir Lawrence Byford, a miners son who rose to the top of the police service.LEADING ROLE: Sir Lawrence Byford, a miners son who rose to the top of the police service.
LEADING ROLE: Sir Lawrence Byford, a miners son who rose to the top of the police service.

Sir Lawrence ‘Lawry’ Byford passed away on Saturday at his home in Pannal near Harrogate.

His 1982 report on the Yorkshire Ripper case led to fundamental changes to the way investigations into serial killers were carried out.

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The miner’s son from Normanton rose to the top of the police service, was knighted in 1984 and was a president and chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club during his retirement. He held a degree in law from the University of Leeds and later received an honorary doctorate, but being named a Diamond Jubilee Honorary Citizen by Normanton Town Council in 2012 was what he described as “the greatest honour of them all”.