 Barry Kenneth Williams ( 1944 – 24 December 2014 ) , known since 1994 as Harry Street , was a British spree killer . A foundry worker who lived with his parents , he shot eight people in the English Midlands towns of West Bromwich and Nuneaton in the space of little over an hour on 26 October 1978 , killing five . Following a high @-@ speed car chase , he was arrested and in 1979 was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility . He was detained in high @-@ security hospitals under mental health legislation . 
