Given the question: Facts: - birth date: 21 july 1936 - name: harry roberts - parents: harry roberts - birth place: wanstead , essex , england Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of harry roberts -lrb- criminal -rrb- .
The answer is:
harry maurice roberts -lrb- born 21 july 1936 -rrb- is an english career criminal who in 1966 instigated the shepherd 's bush murders , in which three police officers were shot dead .the killings happened after the plain-clothes officers approached the van in which roberts and two other men were sitting in braybrook street , near wormwood scrubs prison in london .roberts opened fire on the officers when he feared they would discover the firearms his gang were planning to use in an armed robbery .he shot dead two of the officers , while one of his accomplices fatally shot the third .after roberts had spent nearly 48 years in jail , in 2014 the parole board for england and wales approved his release , at the age of 78 .having exceeded by far his minimum term of 30 years imprisonment , roberts was one of the united kingdom 's longest-serving prisoners , remaining in custody from 1966 until his 2014 release .