Murder investigations on British merchant ships in 1974-1978

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029714

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please could you disclose if the MPS Central Murder Squad (C1 as it was then) at Scotland Yard undertook any murder investigations on British merchant ships on the High Seas in the period from 1974 to 1978.

If so, would it be possible to have their approximate dates and any other relevant detail, for example the ship's names.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Please find below a short summary of the information held in our archives.

The subject of the file is a Mr Bain aged 48. Mr Bain was an Assistant Steward with the Merchant Navy. He was employed on a British ship named the M.V. Anco Sovereign which is described as a chemical tanker of 15,400 gross tonnage. The ship was concerned with the transportation of chemicals, vegetable and animal oils and had left New York.

At the time of the incident, it was travelling through the Panama Canal Zone. On the 1 January 1976, crew members were bringing in the New Year. They were celebrating and there was drinking. On this date, there was an altercation which resulted in Mr Bain’s death. He was stabbed numerous times.

The autopsy of the 5 January 1976 established that the cause of death was stab wounds of chest and neck. Police officers from the Met, homicide detectives from the “murder squad” (as quoted in the Investigating Officer’s report), the COC1 department based at New Scotland Yard, ran the investigation. They flew out to the ship on 3 January 1976 and boarded the ship on 5 January 1976. The investigation concluded on 18 January 1978.