Freed from jail, the live TV killer
Gunman released 26 years on after having stroke ... but victim’s brother says: I hope he dies slowly
A KILLER who shot dead a planning officer on live TV has been released from jail after suffering a stroke.
Albert Dryden, now 76, was jailed for life after he gunned down Harry Collinson, 46, in June 1991.
Dryden, who had an arsenal of weapons in his house, was also convicted of the attempted murder of council solicitor Michael Dunstan and wounding PC Stephen Campbell and BBC journalist Tony Belmont.
He opened fire on Mr Collinson and Mr Dunstan as they led a council operation to demolish a bungalow he had built illegally on his smallholding in Butsfield, County Durham.
The bearded eccentric had claimed the home was for his poorly mother and argued he did not need consent as only the roof was visible. But Derwentside District Council chiefs disagreed.
Diggers were on standby to demolish the building and camera crews and journalists were at the site to report on negotiations between Dryden and the council when he opened fire.
Footage showed journalists and council workers fleeing for their lives, with many taking refuge in ditches to avoid the bullets.
The fatal scene was captured on camera and shown on local news.
The chilling footage, which shocked the nation, showed Mr Collinson, the authority’s principal planning officer, asking the camera crew to film Dryden’s gun.
But as the camera panned to Dryden, he fired. Dryden then shot the policeman and the reporter.
When Mr Collinson, a divorced father- of- two, fell mortally wounded into a ditch, Dryden fired two more shots into his heart and head. He then blasted PC Campbell in the buttock and BBC Look North reporter Tony Belmont in the arm.
During the trial at Newcastle Crown Court in April 1992, the former steelworker claimed he was mentally unwell and not responsible for his actions, but this was rejected by the jury.
Alex Watson, a Durham County councillor and district council leader at the time, said Dryden had now been released after 26 years because of his ill health.
He said: ‘He has had a severe stroke and it’s left him unable to talk. He’s not in a good condition but he’s recovered enough to be released and placed in a residential home where there will be a measure of security. He said he was defending his home but the murder can never be excused, it was cold-blooded murder.’
Mr Collinson’s brother, Roy, remains furious that Dryden never showed remorse. He said: ‘ He’s been released because he is dying, but that doesn’t bring one iota of comfort to me.’
He said he was only informed of the killer’s release by Victim Support, and added: ‘I couldn’t bloody care less what happens to Albert Dryden. If he dies slowly that’s good. I’ll be very happy about that.
‘He never showed one bit of remorse in all the 26 years he has been in prison. He still tried to justify his actions for some Godunknown reason.
‘The whole thing is a disaster, it should never have happened. My brother shouldn’t have been killed and Dryden should never have been locked up.’
The older brother had previously called the killer ‘an eccentric and dangerous man’ who was fascinated by guns and explosives.
He said: ‘ People who knew Dryden always knew he would do something like this. He said he would and he did. It was incompetence and the authorities did not realise how dangerous he was.
‘My brother should have been retired now and enjoying life with his children.’