"For many of the survivors, the horror did not stop at the end of the war in 1918, as shown by one tragedy that happened on the outskirts of Sunderland - nine years later. Thousands of men had returned to England suffering from shell shock and other appalling injuries and nervous disorders. One such man was Ted Lloyd, who suffered severe brain damage when a shell exploded near him on the Western Front. He returned to his family a mental and physical wreck, left to scrape a living through petty thefts. Lloyd lived with his wife and children in one of a group of derelict aerodrome huts called Liberty Villas. These stood near the Three Horse Shoes Inn, which still stands, now flanked by the Nissan site. The other character in the tragedy was a police officer, called Matthew Straughan, who had also fought in the war - serving in the Royal Artillery. The 36-year-old officer was married, with three children and lived at West View, Castletown. Constable Straughan, who worked from Southwick police station, regularly patrolled North Hylton where locals, including Lloyd, knew him as "Mattie". But his pleasant and peaceful life was brought to a violent end on the fine summer evening of June 28, 1927. Shortly after 7 o'clock, witnesses saw him cycling to Liberty Villas to deliver a summons to Lloyd, who had been caught stealing metal pipes from nearby huts which were being demolished. But, unknown to the officer, Lloyd had been having one of his frequent fits and was seen waving a loaded gun about. Constable Straughan parked his bike and walked across a field to the front of the old hut were Lloyd lived. He had no reason to expect any trouble. Lloyd, a broadly-built man, had never argued in the past. But, when the constable knocked at the door, he was confronted by a deranged man, with fury in his eyes, pointing a shotgun. Seconds later, there were two loud bangs and the constable fell to the ground. He had been killed instantly - the first blast hitting him in the face." Source: Sunderland Echo
See also [Evening Telegraph, 1 Jul 1927] [Photo]