It’s not often we’ve published a “WANTED NOTICE” here on our ExPo website but that’s exactly what we did back in 2013 when we were seeking the whereabouts of former P.C. John “Jonesey” Jones who had served here in the Bermuda Police from October 1982 until September 1989 before he left Bermuda and was said to have been heading to Hong Kong.
John had served in the West Mercia Police prior to coming out to Bermuda, and the West Mercia Police had received an appeal for information about John from his former Regiment which was planning a reunion and wanted to invite him to their celebrations. For this reason we did our best to contact John by posting the "WANTED NOTICE" on our ExPo website - but we were never able to track our man down!
To make matters difficult we could find no trace of John in our police register at Prospect even though there was no doubt about him having served here. We did hear from one of our colleagues, Alan Gorbutt, who came out with John and eight other guys in the same intake, all of whom had previous police experience and all attended a Localization Course for which, unfortunately we don’t have a group photo. The other recruits were Edmund Christopher, Clifford Culley, Peter Kiddy, John Whittaker, Kevin White, Barry Crompton, Clive Marsden and Stephen Mardon.
Alan remembered John as “quite a character and an entertaining boxer who competed in several of our Police Evenings of Boxing events then being held at the Southampton Princess Hotel. Alan also recalled John’s “regimental handlebar moustache” and his “Victorian fists-up stance” when he was boxing! It was believed John went off to Hong Kong and married a local girl there, but despite our appeal we heard nothing more about John or his whereabouts – until recently!
Fast forward to April 2025 when we received sad news about the passing of our good friend and former colleague, Alan Matthews, in Leeds, England on 27th April. CLICK HERE for our “Latest News” report on Ian’s passing following a protracted illness. As we reported, Ian had served here from June 1984 - June 1989 and was a very popular young man with a wide circle of friends while in Bermuida which included Neal Richardson and John Jones who had served along with Ian in Western Division. These three colleagues retained their close friendship after leaving Bermuda. This was confirmed by Neal Richardson who sent us the attached photograph of himself with Ian Matthews, Glynn Jones and John Jones celebrating Christmas together here in Bermida in 1987.
Young P.C. Neal Richardson
Neal has been a regular conributor to our ExPo website and this included him writing an excellent “Then and Now” article which includes the photo below of a very happy bunch of guys who worked together in Western Division including Ian and John. CLICK HERE to view Neal’s article.
Neal informed us he was aware that quite a few of our former colleagues were planning on attending Ian’s funeral being held in Leeds, Yorkshire, on Tuesday 3rd June. Neil said he would be travelling from Guatemala where he now resides with his lovely wife Ingrid, while John Jones would be flying in from Hong Kong, and other guys from the UK likely to attend included Glyn Jones, Steve Parkinson, Tim Roper, Paul Radford and possiblly a few more. Neal promised to let us know how the funeral went and to provide a photo if possible.
Neal was as good as his word and sent us the attached photo of the nine of our fomer colleagues who had travelled to Leeds for Ian’s funeral. They are surrounding Ian’s lovely wife Jayne, and just in case you didn’t recognize the face, that is none other than our good friend John Jones with beard and sunshades next to Jayne.
"Bermuda attendees" at Ian Matthews funeral held in Leeds - June 2025Neal reported there was a fantastic send off for Ian at the funeral and reception with a jam-packed church that included family, friends, and several senior West Yorkshire police officers. Ian clearly had made many friends throughout his life and received high praise for his policing style and commitment. Neal was delighted with the number of former Bermuda police colleagues who got together for Ian’s funeral and what a wonderful opportunity it was for them to pay their respects to a great friend and to catch up with each other to share fond memories of their time in Bermuda.
Neal added, "I'm about to start my long journey back to Guatemala and John (Jones) to Hong Kong. It was well worth the cost and effort to pay our respects to Ian, as well as to have a wonderful get-together with such a fine bunch."
With regard to his old friend John Jones, Neal wrote, “John had flown from his home in Hong Kong to see Ian off. Many of you will remember John from his Bermuda days, where he mostly served in uniform in Western Division both as a regular shift officer, a Parish Constable, as well as being a member of the ERT.
“For those that used to attend the BPS Smoker nights at the Southampton Princess, you will remember a couple of occasions where John would provide some additional entertainment with his Queensbury Rules boxing style. When not on the island, John would typically be off somewhere in the world, exploring jungles and other assorted hotspots.
“In classic John style, he did try to join the French Foreign Legion in Paris after leaving Bermuda, but was talked out of it by the recruiting officer due to advancing age. John then had a complete career change, whereby he became an English teacher firstly, and briefly in mainland China, but mostly in Hong Kong, where he still lives. It's a vocation that means a great deal to him, and he manages to keep getting extensions to his working contracts despite having gone well past the official Hong Kong retirement age.
“When not working, John gets out internationally, and has spent time recently in Ukraine, giving assistance to the military. It was his latest trip that almost cost him his life, having been struck by explosives. Fortunately for John, he received immediate and excellent care. Despite this near-death experience, John is currently putting together a third visit to Ukraine.
"Despite attempts, I can't seem to convince John to do a “Then and Now” write-up on what has clearly been a full and colorful life.”
EDITORS NOTE - I have to fully concur with Neal about the full, fascinating and adventurous life our good friend John Jones has led. We have now gone full circle with John, having put out that “WANTED NOTICE” appeal trying in vain to track him down in 2013, to finally catching up with him when he travelled all the way from Hong Kong to Leeds for the funeral of his old friend. It would put “icing on the cake” if John would put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard and send us some of his recollections of his adventures that we could add to this article.
We would also be delighted if all the other guys who attended Ian’s funeral would write and let us know where you are and what you’re doing these days for our “Keeping in Touch” column, and also consider writing your own reminiscnces just as Neal Richardson has done for us in his fascinating “Then and Now” article. CLICK HERE to view it.