Police Constable Patrick Dunne was born on 2 April 1949 in Shoreham-on-Sea, Sussex, the son of Patrick Dunne (1915-1986) and Betty May Dunne née Wells (1926-2019), the first of their three sons. His brothers were Stephen Dunne (b.1951) and Ivan Dunne (b.1953). His parents were listed on electoral registers from 1961 to 1968 at 105 Welbeck Road, Carshalton, Surrey and he attended Carshalton High School for Boys, leaving in 1966 with 10 GCSE's.
His first employment was within the engineering department of the London Borough of Sutton. In 1968 he changed to a career in teaching, attending the Northern Counties College in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where his primary studies were in Mathematics, Music and English. He was elected Chairman of the Social Services Society, whose aim was to help local deprived children. He also learned to play the piano, a skill he put to good use in his police service.
He obtained a B.A. Degree at the Open University in 1971, teaching Mathematics at Deane School, Bolton, Lancashire. In 1986, when his father died, he returned to Sutton to support his mother, taking a teaching post in Weybridge, Surrey, where he became Head of Business Studies.
He applied to join the Metropolitan Police, warrant number 190636, and was posted to Clapham Police Station in June 1990, shoulder number '750 LM', where he was appointed as a Home Beat Officer whilst still a probationary police officer.
He was murdered, aged 44 years, on 20 October 1993 when attending a domestic dispute at 28 Cato Road, Clapham when he heard gunshots at the house opposite, 31 Cato Road. Unarmed, he went to investigate and was shot dead by Gary Lloyd Nelson (b.1969) who, with two accomplices, had just murdered another man who had 'disrespected' Nelson. (It was not until 2006 that Nelson was convicted and sentenced to two concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 35 years). He was buried in Sutton Cemetery, Alcorn Close, Sutton, SM3 9PX on 12 November 1993.
Probate records show that his home addresses had been 243 Basinghall Gardens, Sutton, SM2 6AP, and that when probate was granted on 3 March 1994 his effects totalled £135,990.
He is also commemorated in The Roll of Honour displayed at the National Police Memorial, Cambridge Green, The Mall, Westminster; in the Books of Remembrance held at both New Scotland Yard, Victoria Embankment, Westminster and Peel Centre, Aerodrome Road, Hendon. On 18 March 2004 the Metropolitan Police Serious Crime Building in Chalk Pit Way, Sutton, SM1 4RD was named as Patrick Dunne House. On 27 November 2007 he was was posthumously honoured with a High Commendation, by the Police Commissioner, for bravery, the highest award possible, 14 years after he was killed on duty.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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