The Metropolitan Police record of Police Constable Francis Gregory, 26, who lived in married quarters at Chatham Dockyard, proved he was an exemplary officer, diligent, hard-working and set for promotion.

All that was thrown to the winds on Friday, FEBRUARY 26th, 1926, when Mrs. Gregory woke up and rushed to their children’s room. She found the walls dripping with blood and the throats of the two children, Joyce, four, and Audrey, two, had been cut.

PC Gregory had calmly put on his uniform after killing the two children and had gone off to Chatham Dockyard police headquarters to report an accident at his home. Told that an officer would be sent to investigate, he went home and cut his own throat.

A coroner’s inquest next day recorded verdicts of murder and suicide while insane.