A FORMER murder cop has told of the terrifying moment he found a severed head on the beach.

Detective Superintendent John Geates of Strathclyde Policeas it was then, competed Glasgow to Barassie Beachclose Troon inside Ayrshireafter body The piece was found by a dog walker in December 1999.

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The now-retired cop immediately realized he was looking at the face of 18-year-old Barry Wallace, who had disappeared days earlier.

Remembering the chilling realization of something new BBC documentary about the infamous ‘Limbs in the Loch’ murderHe said: “I was at the Stewart Street police office in Glasgow. I was about to start a meeting.

“I got a call saying a human head had been hit on Barassie Beach and I went straight there.

“When I got there, the area was taped off so we could preserve any forensic evidence that might be there.

“I appreciate that it is coastal frontage, the sea comes in and out, but we had to ensure that everything that was there was preserved as evidence.

“Then I walked towards where the head was.

“With my knowledge of his photographs, I was pretty sure it was Barry Wallace.

“A moment like this never leaves you, it definitely never leaves you.

“I can picture the whole scene as if it were yesterday. “This is terrible.”

In a new six-part Capture Killer John shares his scary memories of a TV series investigation The incident began when police divers found body parts in a garbage bag underwater. education exercise In Loch Lomond.

The gruesome discovery came two days after the incident happened to store employee Barry. KilmarnockAyrshire, reported missing When he didn’t return on December 5th House from someone Christmas out at night.

His parents Ian and Christine went public attractive to get information, but it would end in heartbreak when the severed remains found 60 miles away turned out to be Barry’s.

John’s team of officers then faced the formidable task of disrupting this order. news He told his family about Barry’s murder.

He said: “You understand very well that this is someone’s son, someone’s brother, although I don’t know if you understand it, but you think you understand immediately what these people will go through.

“Obviously you can’t put yourself in their shoes. shoe because this is the person they love, but you know that this will be a terrible ordeal that we will have to share with them.

John enlisted two of his most experienced and caring friends. family liaisons are helping Barry’s family cope with unimaginable trauma and grief.

Johnny Miller and his female counterpart Lorna nursed them in the most harrowing and disturbing situations. reality.

DIVER’S EXAMS

By GRAHAM MANN

A police diver said officers thought a limb found in the lake belonged to a doll before the harsh truth emerged.

Gordon Dick was part of the underwater team that accidentally discovered the body parts of William Beggs’ murder victim, Barry Wallace.

Returning to the scene 25 years later, he recalls: “This area here was a well-used training dive site for central Scotland police at the time.

“So that day a team of seven or eight divers showed up and they were just diving off the pier for a training dive.

“Nothing unusual, nothing particularly new about it.”

Shortly after, officers spotted several black bags in the water and took a closer look.

Gordon said: “We find things like this all the time but this time one of the guys opened the back to see what it was.

“He expected it to be completely ordinary, just nonsense, whatever.

“But there was a limb inside, and he determined very quickly that it was a human limb.

“The diving supervisor originally thought they would pull out a doll or part of a teddy bear or something like that and it would just be a good laugh and we would make a good joke about it later in the van. .

“He realized very quickly that this wasn’t a joke, that what was happening here was something pretty bad.”

He said: “I had to tell Ian: ‘We need Ian to make this official. to post death’ and it would happen later that night.

“I was taking Ian to the morgue in Glasgow just to see his son’s head.

“When we arrived at the morgue, I introduced Ian to our production people, let them take over, and they brought Ian in for identification.

“Damn soil for anyone parents. Hell on earth.”

Senior investigating officer John Geates says he was amazed by Ian’s strength and is still impressed by the grieving father’s bravery 25 years later.

He said: “I think Ian identifying his son was one of the bravest things I have ever seen.

“It took a lot of courage and I don’t know where he got it.”

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Retired liaison officer Johnny echoes these thoughts, adding: “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 30 years on the force, and I’ve seen a few in my years as a police officer.”

And he goes on to describe his journey back to Kilmarnock at the time. families against Scotland they were preparing for festival season.

The visibly emotional ex-cop recalls: “There’s a saying once identification is made, it’s like a pin drop.

“We drove back to Kilmarnock and the journey back was pretty quiet.

“The part I always remember is we came back house and as I am driving a car I see above Father christmas was floating because today was December 15th.

“So Santa’s float was going around housesIt was the Local Round Table.

“When we got to Ian’s door, people were at his door.

“So Ian went out car he entered the house and emerged again a few minutes later, putting a few pounds into their tin collection.

“So this is a man who has just seen his son’s head, but it shows the sign of the man that he has the presence of mind to go to his house and give it to him.” money to the community.

“I will always remember this as long as I live live.”

This was the beginning of the search for Barry’s killer. William Beggs, 61, emerges from the shadows and rises to notoriety as one of Scottish criminal underworld’s worst killers history.

The demon, who moved from his native Cumbria to Ayrshire, was caged for life for the murder of Barry in 2001.

The first episode of Firecracker will be broadcast on BBC Scotland at 22.00 on Tuesday. sections Available on iPlayer.

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