The Krays’ briefcase with syringe and poison; Sinn Fein bomb shrapnel; gloves as worn by John Haigh (the ‘Acid Bath Murderer’); never-before-seen-in-public objects from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Museum will go on display in a new exhibition opening on Friday, October 9, at the Museum of London.
You are urged to book in advance as the first Saturday, October 10, is already sold out. Tickets for adults start at £10 (Wednesdays).
Since its establishment by serving officers in the mid-1870s the Crime Museum has previously only been open to police and invited guests. Now, using original evidence from this collection, you can journey through some of the UK’s most notorious crimes from Dr Crippen to the Krays, the Great Train Robbery to the Millennium Dome diamond heist.
Created with the support of the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC), the exhibition will consider the changing nature of crime and advances in detection over the last 140 years, as well as the challenges faced in policing the capital, such as terrorism, drugs and rioting.
Covering the victims, perpetrators and police officers behind these objects, say organisers, visitors will also be forced to question our enduring fascination with this hidden collection and its stories.
The Crime Museum Uncovered runs until April 2016 and will be accompanied by talks and events. On Thursday, October 15, for instance, Keith Skinner, official volunteer from the Metropolitan Police’s Museum in Scotland Yard, and retired Chief Superintendent, Alan Moss, discuss the genesis and history of the Crime Museum. Visit: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/.
Entry to the museum on London Wall, postcode EC2Y 5HN, is free bar the exhibition.
