1968 Austin 1100 MkII [ADO16]

1968 Austin 1100 MkII [ADO16] in The Black Panther, Movie, 1977

Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin:

Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
dsl ◊ 2016-06-21 22:37	Mk2 Austin/Morris 1100/1300. Merge with /vehicle_927269-Austin-1300-ADO16-1970.html as this one's only a general ID???
jpts ◊ 2020-09-22 17:29	This scene was an reenactment of the second failed ransom drop that occurred at Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent in the early hours of the 17th January 1975. In the original police investigation report on the case, after the failure of first ransom drop at the Swan shopping centre in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, on the previous night; 16th January 1975, the Whittles received a second ransom call, this time, the kidnapper, Neilson played a tape of Lesley's voice telling her family that she was fine and instructed that one of the family was to take the £50,000 ransom to a phone box in Kidsgrove where a second set of instruction of where to take the ransom to was located. After the call, Lesley's brother, Ronald Whittle agreed to the take the ransom to Kidsgrove and spent two hours at the Bridgnorth police station, preparing the drop before leaving the police station for Kidsgrove at 1:30am on the 17th January. Following the instructions on the tape, Ron Whittle drove along the M6 North Motorway where he was "to get off at the Motorway Junction 10 and then take A454 Road towards Walsall" before arriving in Kidsgrove. After arriving in Kidsgrove, Whittle, being unfamiliar with the area, got lost, eventually arriving at the phone box outside the local post office at 3am, after arriving late, Whittle spent 30 minutes looking for the note, before finding the note on the backboard in the phone box. The note told Whittle to drive to Bathpool Park; 1½ mile from the phone box where he was to drive to the top of the lane and pass an "No Entry" sign and then look for a small wall located next the edge of a railway bridge where a torch would be sitting, the note also instructed Whittle to flash his car's headlights and located the torch where another set of instructions was attached to the torch. Following the note, Whittle arrived at the Bathpool Park 1½ hour late and turned into the spot where the "No Entry" sign was but couldn't see the wall in the dark and instead drove to the end of the lane, flashed his headlights and got out of the car and shouted that no one was there, before getting back into the car and driving off to meet with the police. It was later revealed that before Ron Whittle had arrived, a car containing a couple drove past and pulled into the spot where Whittle was previously parked, thinking the car was Whittle's, Neilson waved his torch to the couple's car. Thinking it was suspicious, the couple reversed their car out of the spot and drove off. This second failed ransom drop resulted in tensions between the West Mercia Constabulary and the Staffordshire Constabulary with West Mercia Constabulary stating the officers of the Staffordshire Constabulary were responsible for the second ransom drop being failure as a Staffordshire Constabulary marked patrol car was spotted driving through the area. Two months later on the 6th March 1975, a headmaster of a local school had turned in a torch to police along with another piece of Dymotape that read, "Drop suitcase into hole" that was given to him by some schoolboys. It was later revealed that the torch that the headmaster had turned over to the police was the same torch that Whittle was supposed to find. The note referred to one of three closed off ventilation shafts that had been part of the Harecastle Canal Tunnel that was known as a "glory hole". In the shaft, police found a Dymotape machine with a roll of Dymotape that matched the ransom note and the instructions for the ransom drop, the police then checked the second shaft but found nothing. Just as police was going to check the third shaft, police had to wait for the inspector from the HM Inspectorate of Mines to check for gas as the shaft had been a unsealed air ventilation shaft for Nelson's Coal Mine. On the 7th March, the police was given all clear and went into the shaft, in the shaft, the police found a broken police torch, a cassette tape recorder, a sleeping bag, a foam mattress and a survival blanket. Police then found Lesley Whittle's body hanging from a steel wire about seven inches off the bottom of the shaft. Police also found in the shaft, a reporter's notepad, more Dymotape, a cassette tape, a microphone with a lead, a Thermos flask, blue cord trousers, 3 inch strips of Elastoplast that acted as a blindfold and a pair of size 7 trainers. -- Last edit: 2023-06-26 15:00:23

Author

Message

dsl

◊ 2016-06-21 22:37

Mk2 Austin/Morris 1100/1300. Merge with /vehicle_927269-Austin-1300-ADO16-1970.html as this one's only a general ID???

jpts

◊ 2020-09-22 17:29

This scene was an reenactment of the second failed ransom drop that occurred at Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent in the early hours of the 17th January 1975.

In the original police investigation report on the case, after the failure of first ransom drop at the Swan shopping centre in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, on the previous night; 16th January 1975, the Whittles received a second ransom call, this time, the kidnapper, Neilson played a tape of Lesley's voice telling her family that she was fine and instructed that one of the family was to take the £50,000 ransom to a phone box in Kidsgrove where a second set of instruction of where to take the ransom to was located.

After the call, Lesley's brother, Ronald Whittle agreed to the take the ransom to Kidsgrove and spent two hours at the Bridgnorth police station, preparing the drop before leaving the police station for Kidsgrove at 1:30am on the 17th January.

Following the instructions on the tape, Ron Whittle drove along the M6 North Motorway where he was "to get off at the Motorway Junction 10 and then take A454 Road towards Walsall" before arriving in Kidsgrove.

After arriving in Kidsgrove, Whittle, being unfamiliar with the area, got lost, eventually arriving at the phone box outside the local post office at 3am, after arriving late, Whittle spent 30 minutes looking for the note, before finding the note on the backboard in the phone box.

The note told Whittle to drive to Bathpool Park; 1½ mile from the phone box where he was to drive to the top of the lane and pass an "No Entry" sign and then look for a small wall located next the edge of a railway bridge where a torch would be sitting, the note also instructed Whittle to flash his car's headlights and located the torch where another set of instructions was attached to the torch.

Following the note, Whittle arrived at the Bathpool Park 1½ hour late and turned into the spot where the "No Entry" sign was but couldn't see the wall in the dark and instead drove to the end of the lane, flashed his headlights and got out of the car and shouted that no one was there, before getting back into the car and driving off to meet with the police.

It was later revealed that before Ron Whittle had arrived, a car containing a couple drove past and pulled into the spot where Whittle was previously parked, thinking the car was Whittle's, Neilson waved his torch to the couple's car.

Thinking it was suspicious, the couple reversed their car out of the spot and drove off.

This second failed ransom drop resulted in tensions between the West Mercia Constabulary and the Staffordshire Constabulary with West Mercia Constabulary stating the officers of the Staffordshire Constabulary were responsible for the second ransom drop being failure as a Staffordshire Constabulary marked patrol car was spotted driving through the area.

Two months later on the 6th March 1975, a headmaster of a local school had turned in a torch to police along with another piece of Dymotape that read, "Drop suitcase into hole" that was given to him by some schoolboys.

It was later revealed that the torch that the headmaster had turned over to the police was the same torch that Whittle was supposed to find.

The note referred to one of three closed off ventilation shafts that had been part of the Harecastle Canal Tunnel that was known as a "glory hole".

In the shaft, police found a Dymotape machine with a roll of Dymotape that matched the ransom note and the instructions for the ransom drop, the police then checked the second shaft but found nothing.

Just as police was going to check the third shaft, police had to wait for the inspector from the HM Inspectorate of Mines to check for gas as the shaft had been a unsealed air ventilation shaft for Nelson's Coal Mine.

On the 7th March, the police was given all clear and went into the shaft, in the shaft, the police found a broken police torch, a cassette tape recorder, a sleeping bag, a foam mattress and a survival blanket.

Police then found Lesley Whittle's body hanging from a steel wire about seven inches off the bottom of the shaft.

Police also found in the shaft, a reporter's notepad, more Dymotape, a cassette tape, a microphone with a lead, a Thermos flask, blue cord trousers, 3 inch strips of Elastoplast that acted as a blindfold and a pair of size 7 trainers.

-- Last edit: 2023-06-26 15:00:23

1968 Austin 1100 MkII [ADO16]

1968 Austin 1100 MkII [ADO16] in The Black Panther, Movie, 1977

Comments about this vehicle

Add a comment

Advertising