Departures of note

James Humphreys, a London pornographer, kept detailed diaries of the bribes he paid to police officers, which became crucial evidence in exposing corruption within Scotland Yard. In January 1972, he took Ken Drury, the head of the Flying Squad, and his wife on a holiday to Cyprus and Beirut. The Sunday People exposed the trip, leading to Drury's suspension and resignation. Humphreys's diaries, which recorded over 350 meetings with police officers and the amounts paid, were later handed to anti-corruption investigators. His testimony helped convict thirteen members of the Obscene Publications Branch, including Detective Chief Inspector George Fenwick, who was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Humphreys's criminal career began early; he was first arrested at 15 for housebreaking and theft. Over the following decades, he progressed from petty crime to more serious offences, including a 1958 conviction for using explosives to steal £8,260 from a sub-post office. After his release from Dartmoor Prison in 1962, he opened a strip club in Soho and later expanded into sex shops, paying bribes to police to avoid raids. He also acted as a police informant, using his contacts to target rivals. In 1973, he was arrested for the attempted murder of his wife's former lover, Peter Garfath, and sentenced to eight years in prison.

While in prison, Humphreys co-operated with police to reduce his sentence, providing evidence that led to the conviction of corrupt officers. He was released in 1977 after serving three years and four months. He then moved to Ireland, where he ran an illegal amphetamine factory, fleeing before a police raid. After a period in Mexico and the US, he returned to the UK and, with his wife Rusty, ran at least three brothels in Marylebone and Marble Arch. In 1994, he was jailed for twelve months for living off immoral earnings. Humphreys died in September 2003. His life inspired the character Benny Barrett in the 1996 BBC series Our Friends in the North.