Talk:Harry Roberts (murderer)

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[edit] Supporters

I have removed the marginally notable information re certain anarchists and football supporters who think what Roberts did made him into a hero for 2 reasons; it is marginally and not fully notable and it isnt directly related to Roberts, and this is a bio about Roberts. This info is already in Massacre of Braybrook Street, about his crimes, and shouldnt go here as well, here we should stick strictly to infop about Roberts, SqueakBox 17:23, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I did the same and got a 24 hour ban. It's amazing how far some people will go to tread on the police and the rapid involvment of a moderator did make me wonder. The claims about Roberts's apparent "fame" in "some circles" are mainly erroneous and any rate exaggerated. There is by the way no need to merge these stories as one is about the actual murders and the other about one of the perpetrators. More facts may come to light about Harry R that have nothing to do with the murders of three policemen. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.217.70.101 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Merge

Mostyly for WP:BLP concerns I think this article should be merged with Massacre of Braybrook Street. Does anyone object? SqueakBox 17:39, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

I would object. Roberts is as notable for his extended sentence and his place in popular culture Kernel Saunters 19:22, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Object as per Kernel Saunters.GiollaUidir 12:31, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The articles belong separately

It is not a good idea to merge these two articles, unless you are going to merge Adolf Hitler and World War II.

Many people will have heard of Harry Roberts. His record as a triple cop-killer make him unique as a mainstream (non-terrorist) criminal in the UK. Fewer people will remember Braybrook Street or Shepherd's Bush in this context, and certainly would not think of looking for an article entitled "Massacre of Braybrook Street" in this context. Roberts has been inside for more than forty years. Again, many people will think that not unreasonable in the context of his crime. Roberts is engaged in petitioning the courts for a release date under the Human Rights Act. This in turn will lead users to look to this article for biographical details. The facts about his career in prison are irrelevant to an article about the crime he has committed, they belong in a biographical article.

Against that, biographical details of Roberts are slim. He committed his crime aged thirty, hid out for a few months, and has been in jail for forty years. Prior to the crime, he had done little of note to appear in a biography. He has done very little of note for forty years. Some more detail about his earlier life is probably available, but it would need a lot of leg-work around newspaper cuttings libraries to find it, and many newspaper archives of this nature went in a skip years ago without digital copies being made. Therefore a biographical article will never be large, but the Wikipedia guidelines should be sufficiently broad to take this paucity of information into account. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sweetalkinguy (talk • contribs) 00:37, August 24, 2007 (UTC).