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Europe
British police respond to armed break in six hours later to recover bodies
2004-10-14
Hat tip: Hell in a Handbasket. Edited for brevity.
The brother of a woman who was shot dead along with her son by her estranged husband has criticised the police response to the tragedy. East Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford recorded verdicts of unlawful killing on Julia and William Pemberton who were gunned down at their Berkshire home. He said police could not have prevented their deaths. But after Wednesday's verdict, Frank Mullane condemned the six-hour delay before officers entered the house. The hearing was told Alan Pemberton, 48, killed his wife and 16-year-old son, before turning the gun on himself. Earlier, the coroner was told Mrs Pemberton pleaded with a police operator that she had "about one minute before I die" as she hid in a downstairs cupboard while her husband rampaged through their home in Hermitage, Berkshire. However, despite receiving the call at 7.11pm, police did not enter the property until 1.53am the following day.
Yes, a full six hours and 42 minutes after the 999 call. Why even bother calling the police? Just call the morgue and tell them how you want your funeral.
Mr Mullane called for the police response to firearm incidents to be looked at. He also said his sister should have had more protection from her husband. But Thames Valley Police superintendent Jim Trotman said: "I am confident that Thames Valley Police offered Julia Pemberton advice and support which we felt was appropriate at the time."
I'm sure that "advice and support" made her last few minutes of life so much better. "Hey, I'm about to be murdered now, but thanks for your kind words and sympathy." How sickening.
Posted by:Dar

#18  I apologize for multiple posts.When I hit Publish earlier I got 502 page not found message,so I resubmitted.I'll figure this "internets" thing out one of these days.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-10-14 11:55:43 PM  

#17  it's not getting any funnier Stephen ;-)
Posted by: 2b   2004-10-14 9:09:28 PM  

#16  It is very understandable why it took 7 hours to respond.All the officers were out in the country installing cameras to catch those dastardly fox hunters.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-10-14 8:53:31 PM  

#15  It is very understandable why it took 7 hours to respond.All the officers were out in the country installing cameras to catch those dastardly fox hunters.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-10-14 8:47:25 PM  

#14  It is very understandable why it took 7 hours to respond.All the officers were out in the country installing cameras to catch those dastardly fox hunters.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-10-14 8:46:59 PM  

#13  Better to make appointments with British Bobbies and crazy ex-husbands so everyone can converge at the same time. Tea time is blocked out.
Posted by: ed   2004-10-14 7:52:42 PM  

#12  Well they can use the tasers on the letter writers in a discreet way.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-10-14 7:41:26 PM  

#11  The armed ones are are always second guessed regardless of the outcome.

Damn straight!

After years of whining about the Cincinnati police "killing young black boys" while citing 17 cases -- 15 of which were self-defense or the defense of others -- the Cincinnati police bought tasers and got all the required training. The result?

Letter: Reckless use of Tasers

Note that the letter is from the local racial hustlers who incited the 2001 riot.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-10-14 7:32:09 PM  

#10  Tell 'em Dar!
Posted by: Shipman   2004-10-14 6:52:35 PM  

#9  It's the UK where 99% of the cops are not armed. Unarmed cops are not going to enter a building where an armed person is. The armed ones are are always second guessed regardless of the outcome. If they didn't enter it was the decision of some micromanaging supeior oficer. The outcome is messed up but we in the US have had similar situations. Here they do something about it. IN the UK they paper it over and tell people they are wrong for questioning it.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-10-14 6:07:41 PM  

#8  Tony Martin? He's got nothin to do with this! its Bush's fault! its a big bush conspiracy! Mike Moore told me so. Lets just blame everything on Bush!!! (extreme sarcasm)
Posted by: Quarterdeck   2004-10-14 4:50:26 PM  

#7  Add this to the Tony Martin outrage.

"We won't defend you and we won't let you defend yourself."
Posted by: jackal   2004-10-14 4:44:38 PM  

#6  For the love of god, people! These cops are busy. They have to drink their tea and eat their crumpets and complain about US foreign policy and bad mouth Blair. Seriously, cut them some slack!
Posted by: Quarterdeck   2004-10-14 4:34:35 PM  

#5  I should correct what I wrote--it's not a seven hour reponse time, but it took that long before the officers had the means/courage/conviction to enter the house. Until that moment, they were apparently little more than spectators. They sure did a good job of ensuring anyone who may have been wounded had ample time to bleed to death. I expect they also ensured any concerned neighbors, relatives, or Good Samaritans in general were prevented from entering and helping the victims, too.
Posted by: Dar   2004-10-14 3:52:35 PM  

#4  rj--I am so flabbergasted by your comment, it's hard to know where to start. Do you seriously think a nearly SEVEN HOUR reponse time is appropriate for a report of a violent break in? If emergency services are responding to another call and can't be there in 10 minutes, should they just assume everybody's dead and take their time?

Did your read the 999 transcript associated with the article? There are gunshots audible on the tape--the woman claims she hears her son crying out in pain--the operator tells her officers are on the way--and finally the woman's psycho ex-husband finds her. Go read the transcript and tell me again this is just "bad public relations"!
Posted by: Dar   2004-10-14 3:42:49 PM  

#3  I heard they have a problem in England that folks will occasionally dial 911 for the emergency services because they saw that on TV. Is that true? If so why not use both numbers.

This case is sad, but if the guy killed them, then killed himself, it means they were dead. They would still have been dead if the bobbies arrived ten minutes later. Bad public relations yes, but if the cops were actually saving a life or stopping a crime somewhere I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2004-10-14 3:24:12 PM  

#2  Cue Public Enemy's "911's a Joke."
Posted by: danking70   2004-10-14 3:20:45 PM  

#1  Thank you Labor party!
Posted by: Secret Master   2004-10-14 3:14:07 PM  

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