Former Met Police detective dies of Covid-19

James Dryland, who lived in Rickmansworth, passed away from Covid-19 at Watford General Hospital. His family have set up a Just Giving page in their his memory and will donate the money to Raise West Herts, the hospital charity, to thank staff who cared for him.

Remembered as a kind, generous, gentle giant with an astute dry sense of honour, James was born on April 2, 1952 in Weymouth, Dorset.

His father Basil Dryland was an army officer who later worked for EMI and his mother Marjorie Dryland was in the Auxiliary Territorial Service before becoming a housewife.

James’ sister Caroline was five years older and he also had a younger brother Mark, who died in childhood.

The family travelled around during James’ childhood because his father was in The Royal Signals. They lived in Fleet, Hampshire, for a few years, then moved to Germany for just over a year where James attended an army school, which he didn’t enjoy very much.

They then moved back to Hampshire where he attended a local school before going to boarding school at Salisbury Cathedral at the age of eight; as a chorister, he followed in the footsteps of his uncle Marcel who had died in the Second World War.

At the age of 14 James got a vocal and violin scholarship to attend boarding school in Ipswich. Again he used to speak about how much he disliked it, being bullied by his peers for his musical abilities because he still had a lovely treble voice until he was nearly 15 years old. He passed four O levels and was going to stay at school to study A-levels but by now he knew he wanted to pursue a career in the police.

James joined the police cadets at Hendon at the age of 18 in 1970. He did two terms at Trenchard House and then went to Norwood section house where he was attached to Battersea and Lavender Hill police station. He also played a lot of sport in his cadet days, including winning a weightlifting contest.

James joined the police from school and went on to become a detective in the Flying Squad and murder squad at the Metropolitan Police

In 1979 James met Vicki Mumford. They lived in Putney briefly and then moved to Croxley Green. The couple were married in 1980 and soon after Penny, their first daughter, arrived. Four years later Nicola was born.

James enjoyed a varied career in the Metropolitan Police and in 1979 joined the CID where he was based in Harrow Road. Ten years later he joined the famous Flying Squad and helped investigate armed robberies, a part of his career that he thoroughly enjoyed.

James received a few awards during his service; one for resuscitating a drug overdose suicide attempt. He also received a commendation whilst in the Flying Squad for arresting six people in a series of armed robberies in post offices in the North London area.

A rugby fanatic, James played for Rosslyn Park, represented the Metropolitan Police at divisional level and also turned out for the Flying Squad.

One of his proudest moments came in 1989 when he played in a memorial match against a team featuring England star Rob Andrew and other internationals. His colleagues recall that he wouldn’t stop talking about the event and plastered his desk with newspaper cuttings from the day.

James played rugby for Rosslyn Park and the police

Having joined the Central Murder Squad at Scotland Yard and Trident in 2002, James retired from the police force after a 30-year career. But this left him with the dilemma at what to do next. Too young to retire properly at 49, he decided to embark on studying the knowledge to become a London black taxi driver.

This proved to be a difficult process and it took him three years of heading off on his little scooter pacing the streets of London, with his map clipboard learning the points of interest and routes.

James and his wife also used to revise routes together in their living room, while the dining room was converted into a map room, but the effort was worth it as James passed the knowledge and enjoyed a successful business out of it for many years until it depleted following the arrival of Uber.

Vicki died in 2006, James had lost his soulmate but he was able to pick himself up and it was then that he met Fiona.

They were married on January 30, 2009 at Great Fosters Hotel in Egham, enjoyed 12 years together, and had just made plans for his retirement and their future.

James Dryland passed away on January 5. He is survived by his wife Fiona, daughters Penny and Nicola, stepson Toby and grandchildren Bethany, Ruby, Isla and Loch.

Donations in James’ memory can be made via this Just Giving page.