Friend keeps promise to dying PC Yvonne Fletcher
- Published
John Murray won his High Court bid to hold Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's ex-aide jointly liable for the fatal shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher 37 years ago.
A retired police officer is close to keeping a 37-year-old promise he made to his dying friend, PC Yvonne Fletcher.
The last words Yvonne Fletcher heard were from her colleague John Murray as he cradled her in an ambulance after being shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London.
He promised her he would find out who had done this to her and why.
More than three decades after that moment, Mr Murray is close to achieving justice.
PC Fletcher, 25, was killed outside the Libyan Embassy in April 1984 during a protest by anti-Gaddafi activists.
No-one has been convicted in a criminal court over her death.
But Mr Murray, who is originally from Bucksburn, Aberdeen, has succeeded in bringing a civil case against a Libyan man involved in the violence at the demonstration against ex-leader Colonel Gaddafi.
Yvonne Fletcher was killed in 1984 outside the Libyan Embassy
He said he had been left with no other option than to launch the claim for the nominal sum of £1 against Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk because the authorities had failed to act.
Last week, Mabrouk was found jointly liable in a civil case at the High Court in London for the fatal shooting of PC Fletcher.
'Yvonne fell to the ground'
John Murray, now 66, still remembers every detail of the day it happened.
"As far as Yvonne and I were concerned it was just a normal day, a demonstration in London," he said.
"The demonstrators arrived and we started talking to them. We had or backs to the building."
He thought someone had thrown a firework.
"I heard a few bangs. Then I realised shots had been fired. And Yvonne, who was standing to my right, fell to the ground."
Speaking to John Beattie on BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme, Mr Murray said: "I ran over to her. She was alive but she was bleeding from her side. After a few minutes we managed to take her into a side street, an ambulance arrived and I went with her to the hospital.
"She was in a lot of pain, she was trying to talk but couldn't.
"It was then I told her I would find out who had done this and why."
When they got to Westminster Hospital, Mr Murray was initially told she was going to be fine but an hour-and-a-half later he was told she had died on the operating table from massive internal injuries.
"I promised her," he said. "That's what I said to her in the ambulance and those were the last words she heard. It has been important to me over the last 37 years to fulfil that promise and after the judgement last Tuesday I have come a big step forward in actually doing that."
The High Court judgement marked a milestone in the quest for answers.
Mr Mabrouk has been barred from the UK and is currently living in Libya. He did not defend the case, but in an email to Mr Murray's lawyers he denied any involvement in PC Fletcher's killing.
He was not alleged to have been the gunman but was found to be jointly liable.
The aftermath of Yvonne Fletcher's death
Mr Murray said this result was a long time coming.
"Six years ago, Mabrouk was arrested for conspiracy to murder and money laundering. He remained on bail for about two years for conspiracy to murder.
"The Crown Prosecution Service were going to charge him with the criminal matters but the Foreign Office and Home Office were asked to provide evidence which they refused to do.
"As a result of that, no criminal charges could be brought. I had seen the evidence that had been available so the only option for me to get that evidence into the public domain was to take a civil action for assault and battery against me, which we did."
Mr Murray said: "There was ample evidence there to even support a criminal prosecution and I don't understand why the Foreign Office and Home Office refused to had over that evidence."
Public inquiry
His next step is to seek a review from the CPS to see if they can change the original decision. He will also be asking questions of the Home Office and the Foreign Office as to why they got involved in the judicial process.
The CPS said that the death of PC Fletcher was tragic and that each case was considered on its own merits.
A spokesman said: "In any case referred to the CPS by the police, a decision to prosecute is made in accordance with our legal test.
"The CPS will consider any new information that is referred to us by the police in relation to this case, and will continue to bring offenders to justice wherever possible."
The Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases and it would not be appropriate to comment on a civil claim.
A spokesman said the murder of WPC Fletcher was one of the most notorious crimes of the last 40 years.
He said: "We want to acknowledge the hard work and commitment the Metropolitan Police have shown over many years to bring to justice those involved in the murder of WPC Fletcher."
Mr Murray has fond memories of Yvonne. The pair were community officers at Bow Street Police Station in London.
They both came from small villages - Yvonne from Semley in Wiltshire and John from Bucksburn.
"She was a lovely girl. I'd worked with her for about four years before this happened. We were both away from home, and both from small villages. She was just so happy - five foot nothing and she loved what she did. She was a great asset to the community."
Retired police officer John Murray (centre) shed a tear as the judge's statement was read out
He says he blames himself for what happened to her.
"That morning, we had changed places two or three times. If we had changed once more it could have been me that was shot and I may well have survived. That will never go away. "
He said he would carry on. His aim is for Mr Mabrouk to appear in front of a criminal court and be found guilty of conspiracy to murder PC Fletcher.
"At the end of the day we might have a trial at the international court in The Hague."
He says that would be closure for him.
"I promised her I would find who had done this to her, and to have someone in court charged with murder or conspiracy to murder would be the end of my job."
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- Published16 November 2021
