Günther Podola

Günther Fritz Erwin Podola (born February 8, 1929 in Berlin-Tempelhof , † November 5, 1959 in London ) was a German criminal and the last person to be executed in Great Britain . His trial for the murder of a police officer was controversial at the time.

Life

Podola was born in Berlin-Tempelhof and grew up in the area around Alexanderplatz . His father died during the Eastern campaign in the Soviet Union, his mother died in 1955 while he was abroad. Günther Podola is said to have been an enthusiastic supporter of the Hitler Youth . However, he was still too young to take part in the war.

Podola went to the Allied Travel Office in June 1952 and applied for a visa to Canada . He arrived in Canada on August 14, 1952, where he worked as a farm worker, car mechanic, warehouse worker and freight forwarder until 1956. On March 1, 1957, he was sentenced to ten days in prison for a burglary in Montreal . After further burglaries and thefts could be proven, he was sentenced on March 26, 1957 to two years in prison. On July 25, 1958, Podola was released and deported to the Federal Republic of Germany, where he worked as an unskilled worker in Gerlingen and Stuttgart .

On May 21, 1959, he flew from Düsseldorf to London. For a short time he lived without work in various hotels on the money he had brought with him. He then broke into the home of an American model and stole £ 2,000 worth of jewelry and furs. He tried to blackmail her and asked for £ 500 to be returned. However, she had also informed the police about the blackmail attempt and when Podola called again, his location was determined via an interception system. On July 12, 1959, he was arrested in the phone booth. When he was about to be taken to the police car, he escaped, but was placed in the entrance area of ​​a residential building ( 105 Onslow Square ). There he was guarded by a policeman, Detective Sergeant Purdy, while the second policeman wanted to get reinforcements. Obviously, Podola had not yet been searched. When the policeman was inattentive for a moment, Podola pulled out a Pistolet Vis wz. 35 and shot the policeman in the chest. This was immediately dead and Podola was able to escape again.

On July 16, 1959, he was found in a hotel in Kensington . When the police broke into the room, there was a scuffle and he was severely hit on the head and blackened. He passed out briefly and was later treated for this in hospital. He did not have the pistol with him at the time; it was later found in the hotel attic.

process

Only two days later, on July 18, 1959, the proceedings against him opened with a hearing in the Central Criminal Court . The defense first tried to demonstrate that his health was not in a position to follow the process. Podola also said she has suffered from memory problems since the blow on the head. After 3.5 hours of deliberation, the jury decided that his memory loss was only fake.

On the very next day, July 19, 1959, the main trial with other jurors began. His lawyer again submitted that due to the state of health and the short time, no detailed consultation with his client was possible. As a result, the attorney tried to deny the evidence presented by the prosecutor, claiming that the gun accidentally went off when he was about to hand it over to the police officer. However, this thesis was refuted by a forensic scientist . On the same day and after a consultation time of only 35 minutes, the jury found him guilty of the murder of a police officer. The death sentence was announced immediately.

On the advice of his defense counsel, Podola did not contest the verdict, but instead made a petition for clemency to the queen. However, the judgment of Interior Minister was Rab Butler the Court of Appeal ( Court of Criminal Appeal ) presented, where it should be examined whether the condemned had a fair trial. A commission of three doctors was set up to examine Podola. They concluded that his amnesia was only fake. On October 20, 1959, the interior minister's request for a review was rejected. The appeals court ruled that the trial against Podola was fair and equitable. The request for clemency was ultimately rejected.

The case was discussed in part controversially in public. In particular, the short time between arrest and death sentence caused astonishment. The case was even reported in the USA in TIME magazine, and in detail in SPIEGEL. In view of the case, some politicians and police officers in England have once again demanded that all police officers be armed, which is still not routinely the case to this day.

Podola was hanged in Wandsworth Prison at 9:45 a.m. on November 5, 1959 and buried in the prison cemetery. Six years later the death penalty was abolished in Great Britain.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Foreign News: Verdict on Podola
2. ↑ ENGLAND / PODOLA PROCESS Window of Remembrance

Web links

• Stephen's Study Room: British Military & Criminal History in the period 1900 to 1999
• Photos from Podola