One way to settle large outstanding debts is to start making money quickly to pay them off. Thats what bookmaker Harry Barham, 52, did. He was due to appear at the Old Bailey on a charge of evading £160,000 tax, and he was anticipating a fine on top of that.
In an attempt to recoup the cash, on Monday, February 14th, 1972, he set out to buy cheap jewellery in Hatton Garden, London, and resell it immediately for a profit. By 4 p.m. he had put together a staggering £40,000. But Hatton Garden is like a village and word got around that Harry Barham was carrying a substantial amount of cash on him. A little more than two hours later he was shot dead in his car in Stratford, east London.
This was an underworld crime, almost certainly performed by gunmen who were seen travelling with him to east London. One theory was that the killer was Teddy Machin, one-time enforcer for Jack Spot. Machin himself, however, was shot dead the following year.