Departures of note

Guenther Podola moved to London on 21 May 1959, assumed the alias Mike Colato, and pretended to be a gangster. He broke into the house of American model Verne Schiffmann in Roland Gardens, stole jewellery and furs worth £2,000, and offered to return them for £500; Schiffmann notified the police.

Police attempted to arrest Podola on 12 July 1959 in Kensington. Podola shot Detective Sergeant Raymond Purdy through the heart with a Radom 9 mm semi‑automatic pistol after running into a house at 105 Onslow Square and was later apprehended. He claimed police beat him, causing memory loss; police said he was only hit on the head when they broke down his hotel room door.