Ham bank murder

Hart was arrested and charged with murder on 20 January 1977. Hart (aged 38) pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter. He maintained that he cocked the gun only to frighten, and that it went off by accident when he tapped the glass screen. He was found guilty of murder on 3 November 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he should serve at least twenty-five years. He was released in 2002.

Angela Woolliscroft was buried at Surbiton cemetery on 29 March 1977. The funeral service was held at St Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church, Chessington, and was attended by members of the murder squad, the local MP, the deputy mayor of Kingston, members of staff from Barclays and pupils from Holy Cross convent, New Malden; the coffin was escorted by members of Barclays Bank international hockey team.

The Ham bank murder occurred on 10 November 1976, at a branch of Barclays Bank in the Ham section of London, resulting in the murder of a bank teller working at the branch. The victim was Angela Mary Woolliscroft, fatally wounded by a shotgun.

In 1976, Angela Mary Woolliscroft (1956–1976), who was born in Surrey and lived in Chessington, was working as a teller at the Barclays Bank branch at Ham Parade, Upper Ham Road, Richmond when she was fatally wounded by a shotgun during a robbery; she died on the way to hospital. After a major police operation, Michael Hart was arrested, put on trial, and in November 1977 sentenced to life imprisonment. Hart was released in 2002.

On 10 November 1976 at 12:30pm Angela Woolliscroft was working as a cashier at the Barclays Bank at Ham, Richmond. A heavily disguised man threatened her with a sawn-off shotgun and told her to "Give me some money". She passed him some money under the screen. The man then fired the shotgun, destroying the safety glass screen and blowing her backwards. She died on the way to hospital. The gunman had made off with about £2,500 (£18,402.29 in 2020).

A memorial plaque was placed inside the bank building at Ham with the wording "In fond memory of Angela Woolliscroft who died on 10th November 1976. A member of staff of this branch who will always be remembered by her colleagues." The bank closed in 2014 and the plaque was moved to the branch in George Street, Richmond. There is also a memorial bench outside the former bank building in Ham (now a Sainsbury's store) and three more were placed round Ham Common. A crystal vase was filled with red roses on the anniversary of her death.