The distraught widow of one of the hero police officers slaughtered by evil Harry Roberts has reacted with outrage at the decision to free the triple killer, saying: “He should die behind bars.”
Furious Gillian Wombwell, whose husband David was gunned down by Roberts 48 years ago, added: “Our family has faced life, he should too.
"It is incomprehensible. It makes a mockery of the system. He should never be allowed out.”
Roberts, 78, was jailed for life over the heinous killings of unarmed officers Det Con Wombwell, 25, PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, and Det Sgt Christopher Head, 30, who he shot as children played nearby in Shepherd’s Bush, West London.
The former soldier remained on the run for 96 days before he was finally captured in Scotland Yard’s biggest ever manhunt.
The slayings, dubbed The Massacre Of Braybrook Street, shocked the nation and Roberts would have been hanged for the bloodbath, but the death penalty had been abolished just eight months before.
At the time, the judge said his life sentence should “mean exactly what it said”.
But one of Britain’s longest-serving prisoners will be back on the streets within days after the Parole Board decided he was ready to rejoin society.
Other devastated relatives blasted the decision to free him.
“I feel sick,” said Paul Fox, who was just 16 when his dad Geoffrey was shot dead.
“It’s an insult and indignity to all serving police officers that someone can shoot them and go around living their life.”
The 64-year-old, of Aylesbury, Bucks, said: “My family has been totally destroyed.
"It is something I live with on a daily basis – that face is ingrained in my head.
“I was hoping this day would never come. I found out about it watching TV.
"I thought they were supposed to consider the victims and give us a say on if he should be released.
"At the very least I should have had a phone call.”
Blasting the Parole Board for failing to put victims first, dad-of-three Paul added: “I was always surprised that none of the officers received any kind of posthumous medal or anything that recognised their bravery. They were protecting the public.”
Paul’s sister Mandy added: “What signal does this show our courageous police officers who put their lives on the line daily for our protection and safety?”
Gillian, whose son and daughter were just two and three when their dad died, said she had urged the Parole Board to reject Roberts’ latest plea to be released from Littlehey prison, Cambs.
She explained: “They knew my family and the others victims’ families never wanted him to get out. I don’t understand how they came to this decision.”
Senior police officers also reacted angrily to the news.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “The murdered officers in 1966 were unarmed and doing their duty on behalf of society.
"Officers of both yesterday and today deserve the full protection of the law when facing ruthless criminals and in this case ‘life’ should have meant what it said.”
Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “I am appalled that Roberts is being released.
"This menace murdered three unarmed officers in cold blood.
“This decision by the Parole Board is a slap in the face for the victims’ families who, once again, are forced to re-live their pain and loss.
"The judge said Roberts should never be released – that has just been forgotten and thrown in the bin. This is a betrayal of the police officers who died. It is abhorrent news.”
However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg defended the decision, telling listeners on his LBC phone-in: “If you want to run the system according to the latest emotion you feel, that would be a disaster.”
Roberts was sitting with two accomplices – John Duddy and John Witney – in his van near Wormwood Scrubs Prison preparing for an armed robbery when he opened fire on the plain-clothed officers as they began asking them questions.
He feared being caught with a stash of concealed weapons.
Jailing Roberts at the Old Bailey, judge Glyn-Jones told him he would serve a minimum 30 years, adding: “This is one of those cases in which the sentence of imprisonment for life may well be treated as meaning exactly what it says.”
Both Duddy and Witney have since died.
Roberts’ 30-year term expired 18 years ago, but he failed in several attempts to be freed.
In 2009 the Board determined he still posed a risk to the public and rejected his bid for release.
Speaking in the Commons Labour MP Ian Austin said: “People out there are absolutely furious.
"Home Secretary Theresa May promised the country life should mean life for anybody convicted of killing a police officer.”
Under new laws proposed this year, future police killers will never be released under compulsory whole-life terms.
Paul has repeatedly called for the return of the death penalty, saying Roberts – who showed no remorse for his crimes – should have hanged.
He said: “I know he’s said he will get people who said things against him. Bring it on I say.”