Thomas Nils Smith (16 Aug 1943 - 17 Jul 2021)

God bless you Tom

Two occasions that come to mind that help me remember what a great bloke to have as a DCI. the first was late turn cid at peckham, and a small problem cropped up when a clerk neartly got mortally wounded by an avalanche of old case papers when she opened a store room door. The yound school leaver clerk had not been trained by her HEO on how and wyher to file case papers so for a year or more she just tossed them in the store room. The solution; not a public enquiry, not a discipline board of investigation.
A TOM SMITH was the answer, aided by his Ilustrious Chrissy Horne with rolled up sleaves and a typewriter ( presumably one better at spelling than this keybd. )
they worked several evenings, possibly helped by John Walker and cleared the lot iin a week

The second was agfain late turn Peckham cid when at 8.45pm a little fella crept in the back door of the office and asked if there was a TV he could watch. He cliamed to be the commissioner and was trying to avoid his favorite mp bernie grant who was lying in wait for him at the yard. One TV and a mug of tea and he was happy. I slipped around the corner to find Ton and his DI test the contents of a bottle .I declcined the offer to jioin them explaining i entertaing the head honcho himself. Now Tom was wise enough to wonder what i was up to so round he came a few minutes later. "All correct Sir, nothing to report ".
Clear up someone elses mess. Have a cppa with the Commissioner. Job done.
a delight to work with .

Thanks for being you and for you and Joyce for being so kind to my mother.

I had the privilege to work with Tom for almost 4 years at 3 Area HQ, Catford police Station in the early 1990's. Tom was a hard working colleague of high integrity, loyalty and common sense for which I was very grateful. He was respected by everyone who knew him, a true gentleman.

Pozostanie zawsza w naszej pamieci.

Poznalam Toma ponad 20 lat temu. Wtedy Jego Syn Chris ozenil sie z moja Corka. Podczas mojego pobytu u Nich, Tom okazal sie bardzo dobrym opiekunem i moim przewodnikiem po Londynie.Bede zawsze mu wdzieczna za takie mile przyjecie. Tom nawet uczyl sie jezyka polskiego, by lepiej porozumiec sie z nasza rodzina.Cala nasza rodzina tu w Polsce jest zrozpaczona i smutna z powodu Jego odejscia.Na zawsze pozostanie w naszych myslach i sercach. Henia i Tomek z Rodzina.

A wonderful colleague and good friend.

I worked with Tom at C6 in the eighties on a number of successful [and a few unsuccessful!] investigations. We shared a small office with Roger Moulds [RIP] and Gerry Adley who some of your will remember. Tom was a sound and efficient investigator who never ducked difficult or complicated allegations. Tom had a great sense of humour and this shone through almost every day we were together. Honest and forthright and I shall always remember his way of working out difficult maths problems by a clever association of figures. I never fully understood how it worked, but he was usually right. The other thing that marked Tom out was his love of a small cigar smoked with freedom in the office in those days to the joy of many and consternation of a few. A lovely man whom I respected and was extremely fond off. May Tom Rest in Peace. My sincere condolence to all his family

Love you Uncle Tom 😘

Goodbye big brother

I am so sorry to hear of Tom's passing. I was also on the Marylebone Crime squad with Ian Stewart when Tom was our DS and he was always available for advice and support and was a great influence on my approach to police work.....and when mistakes were made......he kept collateral damage to the absolute minimum. In the intervening years I often thought of Tom when I was working in my garden as he used to tell me what he had been upto in his and what he was planting....particularly Black Eyed Susans, which I had not come across until Tom broadened my education...!

Always sad when a colleague passes on even more so when you knew or worked with them personally. Tom was one of the good blokes, reliable trustworthy, firm and fair in fact a true and Proper Copper. He will be sorely missed.