[4] The murders took place after plainclothes officers approached a Standard Vanguard estate car,[5] in which Roberts and two other men were sitting in Braybrook Street near Wormwood Scrubs prison in London.
[citation needed] After Roberts had spent nearly 48 years in prison, in 2014 the Parole Board for England and Wales approved his release, at the age of 78.
[10] After leaving the Army, Roberts returned to his criminal activities, and in partnership with Jack Witney carried out "dozens" of armed robberies, targeting bookmakers, post offices and banks.
[11] Following the shootings of 41-year-old Police Constable Geoffrey Fox, Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, aged 30, and 25-year-old Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell in Shepherd's Bush, West London, to avoid capture Roberts used a tent to hide in Thorley Wood near Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, until the winter set in and he moved inside farm buildings.
Roberts used his military training to evade capture for ninety-six days, but was finally caught by police while sleeping rough in a disused airfield hangar on Blount's Farm, Sawbridgeworth, near Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire.
[citation needed] Roberts was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 30 years.
In September 2006, 70-year-old Roberts applied for a judicial review over apparent delays by the parole board in reaching a decision to free him by the end of the year.
[16] On 29 June 2007, he was given leave to seek a High Court judicial review over his failed parole bid, with the judge saying his case "was of great public interest.
"[17] It was reported in February 2009 that Roberts hoped to be freed from prison within months, having already served 42 years in jail and completing the first stage of a parole board hearing; he believed this would pave the way for his release.
Roberts hoped a final hearing would find that at the age of 72 he was no longer a risk to the public and that the parole board would order his immediate release.
[18] It was recognised that government ministers were concerned that any decision on the matter would provoke public fury and that Roberts' safety might be put at risk but the parole board would nonetheless be powerless to halt the release.
[citation needed] Supporters of Roberts had previously claimed that successive Home Secretaries have blocked his release for political reasons because of fears of a public backlash.
[25] In the song "Happiness is Just a Chant Away," Chumbawamba sing the tune of the Hare Krishna mantra with the words replaced with "Harry Roberts.