Murder victim James Cameron

THE story of a historic murder is being told for the first time in a book that delves into five tragedies that have struck detectives during the course of their careers.

James William Cameron is a name that has been written out of history but, in A Deafening Silence, author Simon Farquhar has now told the tragic tale of how the businessman was found shot in his flat in Angel in 1970.

Having set out to write about cases that had particularly affected him, Mr Farquhar said they also “all say something about the way the world has changed or needs to change”.

In Mr Cameron’s case, the fact he was a gay man meant the story offered a particularly pertinent insight into the challenges of having to hide your sexuality in a time where it was not viewed as acceptable, Mr Farquhar told me this week, and added: “There were two things that made me want to tell this story.

“One was that it was a window in the life of a gay man at that time in London. For some people risk is something that is part of their sex life, but if you were a gay man in those days, you didn’t have a choice, it was all risk.”

A news clipping from the time

Mr Cameron was wandering down Tottenham Court Road when he bumped into a man who he invited to stay at his home. The man came to stay several times, knowing that Mr Cameron was gay but shutting down his advances.

Mr Farquhar said: “He went back several times. Cameron tried it on with him, then he robbed him, forced him to write several cheques to him, and then tied him up and shot him.”

The murderer – John Ernest Bennett – had come to London from Fife, searching for his wife who had run off from him. As a “gun nut”, he had made sure he was armed.

But Mr Bennett was swiftly identified using a revolutionary new technology called photofit.

Mr Farquhar said: “This was a kit that every police station bought. It had about 500 shots, of eyes, of jawlines, and so on.

“The first time it was ever tried was when it was used on this case, and it was staggeringly accurate. Bennett thought it was a photograph of him when he saw it, it was that accurate.”

Writer Simon Farquhar

The murderer was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but ended up turning his life around after obtaining a degree from the Open University and going on to become a lecturer once he had left prison.

“You just hope that there is some sense that there is a second chance for people,” Mr Farquhar said. “He was an appalling man but he seemed to have redeemed himself.”

The author added: “With these stories, they read like open and shut cases, but really there are so many other people involved.

“So many lives are disfigured, the family of the victim, the family of the perpetrator.”

Mr Farquhar said he hoped Mr Cameron would have been “happier” in today’s society.

“He didn’t have any family apart from some relatives in Australia. That was really sad,” the writer said.

“He had very few friends. This case gave a glimpse into the twilight world at the time, and the sadness of that.”