Posted on 06/05/2010 5:57:18 PM PDT by naturalman1975
The full details of how police set up an elaborate ambush on a remote mountain pass in an attempt to trap Cumbria killer Derrick Bird were revealed yesterday.
It came as the county force, one of Britain’s smallest, faced a number of questions over their handling of Bird’s 45-mile murderous trek, with witnesses claiming that, in one case, officers had only reached the scene of an injured woman nearly an hour after she had been shot.
The force has already said that it will refer its conduct to watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which will investigate.
Police have claimed that the force had scrambled 42 of its 97 armed officers as the tragedy unfolded.
However, they have repeatedly refused to disclose in detail how many officers were dispatched or at what time they reached the crime scenes – in contrast to other emergency services.
Only as the drama drew to a close did police close in on their quarry. Marksmen, believed to have been dropped in by helicopter, set up an ambush for Bird, lying in wait at Hardknott Pass, nearly 1,300ft above sea level and two miles east of Boot, as he drove down the only road into the village.
Their plan appears to have been to cut him off if he tried to negotiate the sole escape route from the village, a steep winding mountain road over the Cumbrian Fells which leads to the packed Lakeland tourist resorts of Ambleside and Windermere, where the carnage could have been even greater.
.....
In the event, Bird did not reach the pass. His car hit a rock, bursting a tyre and forcing him off the road into woodland near Boot, where he chose to end his life.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
/johnny
There really should be a separate category for topics like this: “Cop haters”.
I see that the murderer took the oowardly way out: suicide.
I don’t blame the police. I blame a government and populace who choose victimhood.
But that's ok.
/johnny
This looks like a fairly remote/rural area. The real story here is that the UK has disarmed all the law abiding folks..
I don't know if that is right. It was my understanding that while handguns are totally banned, long guns - shotguns, rifles and even assault rifles - are still fairly common.
Of course, if you try to use a weapon for anything like self defense, you're done for.
Shotguns are common. Basic rifles are fairly common. Assault rifles are very rare (anything semi-automatic is a 'prohibited weapon' and very hard to get a licence for.)
Of course, if you try to use a weapon for anything like self defense, you're done for.
Not so. You can use a weapon in self defence in the UK, and a number of people have done so completely legally.
From time mag..
“there is a blanket ban on the ownership of handguns. Anyone who wishes to own a firearm or shotgun — and Bird used both — has to be thoroughly vetted by the police and granted a renewable license. The latest figures for England and Wales show that, in a population of more than 60 million, there are 138,728 people with certificates to hold firearms”
From Wiki...
“To obtain a firearm certificate, the police must be convinced that a person has “good reason” to own each gun, and that they can be trusted with it “without danger to the public safety or to the peace”. Under Home Office guidelines, gun licences are only issued if a person has legitimate sporting or work-related reasons for owning a gun. Since 1946, self-defence has not been considered a valid reason to own a gun. The current licensing procedure involves: positive verification of identity, two referees of verifiable good character who have known the applicant for at least two years (and who may themselves be interviewed and/or investigated as part of the certification), approval of the application by the applicant’s own family doctor, an inspection of the premises and cabinet where guns will be kept and a face-to-face interview by a Firearms Enquiry Officer (FEO) also known as a Firearms Liaison Officer (FLO). A thorough background check of the applicant is then made by Special Branch on behalf of the firearms licensing department. Only when all these stages have been satisfactorily completed will a licence be issued.”
In addition to all that the guns must be stored in a locked safe, seperate from the ammo, all inspectable by police anytime.
Yeah, firearms are common in Britian....
With a roving killer like Bird, I don’t see how the police could have stopped him any sooner.
The figures from Time Magazine are misleading. There’s a difference between having a Firearms Certificate, and a Shotgun Certificate - Shotgun certificates are easier to get and are much more common (close to a million of them IIRC) than Firearms Certificates (which is what the 138,000 figure refers to).
The Wikipedia article is pretty accurate, though it’s a bit misleading on the self defence issue (self defence is a valid reason to own a gun in certain circumstances - I know, I am licenced to carry a personal protection weapon in the UK - it’s just an ordinary person can’t claim that as a reason to own - you have to be able to show a reason you are at special risk, and that’s not easy to do).
I didn’t include shotguns because there not too effective in a gun fight with somebody with a rifle. Britian has about 500,000 citizens they “allow” to own shotguns.
As for your bit about “ordinary” citizens not being elegible for self defense permits, your making my point. All those shot folks were just regular old ordinary folks. Not worthy of defending themselves. I’m sure their orphans might disagree.
I agree British gun laws are ridiculous and dangerous.
I just think it’s important that they are described accurately.
Referring to all guns being banned, when quite a few are, in fact, legal, simply allows all other arguments to be easily dismissed, even when they are valid.
In recent days, I’ve seen lots of people saying “Britain banned all guns and it obviously didn’t work!!!!!” Such claims simply play into the hands of the gun banners, by allowing them to try and say: “Yes, but that’s because we haven’t banned them all yet. So now we need to ban...”
Roger that.
I did a hike through that area. Quite hilly, mostly pasture but occasional clumps of tress and obviously a lot of lakes. Ideal for helicopter FLIR searches; not sure they'd have something like that available in a timely manner, though. Maybe from Manchester.
So the manhunt of a serial killer in the UK has WHAT to do with the movie Blazing Saddles?
Nevermind. I just looked at timeline.
“has WHAT to do with the movie Blazing Saddles?”
Because they were going to head him off at the pass!
I’ve always wanted to say that.... :o)
“Criminal Negligence”
“Police have claimed that the force had scrambled 42 of its 97 armed officers as the tragedy unfolded.”
Almost half of their dept. called out when the tragedy unfolded. What part of that is “negligent”?
“Only as the drama drew to a close did police close in on their quarry. Marksmen, believed to have been dropped in by helicopter, set up an ambush for Bird, lying in wait at Hardknott Pass, nearly 1,300ft above sea level and two miles east of Boot, as he drove down the only road into the village”
It sounds like a legitimate plan. What part of that was “negligent”?
Do you know ANYTHING about police procedures?
But more importantly, do you always believe what cop-hating wanna-be journalists write?
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