My father, Sir Lawrence Byford, who has died aged 92, rose through the ranks of the police service to become chief inspector of constabulary. He wrote the report into the failings in the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe that led to fundamental changes in how investigations into serial killers are carried out in Britain and internationally.
Following Sutcliffe’s conviction in 1981 in connection with the Yorkshire Ripper murders and attacks, Lawry was appointed by William Whitelaw, then home secretary, to conduct a thoroughgoing inquiry. Its major findings and recommendations were presented to parliament in 1982.
In the aftermath of the IRA bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative party conference in 1984, Lawry was called on again – this time to head a working group to improve security at future political conferences.
Born in Normanton, West Yorkshire, Lawry was the son of a coal miner, George, and his wife, Monica (nee Carins). He left school in his early teens and became an apprentice electrician working at a local pit.
In 1944, aged 19, he joined the Royal Signals special communications unit as a wireless operator. At the end of the year he was dispatched to the supreme headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force, then based at Versailles. He was seconded to the G-2 intelligence unit of the US army and served for the rest of the second world war in France, Belgium and Germany. An encounter with an American general made him realise that with application he could become a leader of some kind himself.
In 1947, following demobilisation, he joined his local police force, the West Riding Constabulary. He worked primarily as a detective, and by 1966 was a divisional commander in Huddersfield. In 1973, he was appointed chief constable of Lincolnshire.
Lawry also studied part-time to offset his lack of qualifications, gaining a law degree from Leeds University in 1956, and being called to the bar at Gray’s Inn two years later. Later in life, Leeds awarded him an honorary doctorate.
In 1977, he was appointed an inspector of constabulary – and in 1983 became chief inspector of constabulary, the principal adviser on police matters to the home secretary. He was knighted in 1984.
In retirement, Lawry became president and chairman of Yorkshire County cricket club. In 1992, he persuaded the committee to abandon the rule on overseas players to sign a 19-year-old Indian cricketer called Sachin Tendulkar – now regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
A devoted family man, Lawry was married for 67 years to his sweetheart, Muriel (nee Massey). She survives him, along with three children, Bill, Jill and myself, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
