ARMED SIEGE TRAGEDY: Our questions go unanswered
WE put a number of questions about last week’s armed siege to Lincolnshire Police, but officers say they are unable to answer them until the inquest into Barry Horspool’s death.
• What type of firearm did he have?
• How many officers were deployed – armed and unarmed?
• What time did officers last have verbal contact with Horspool?
• How did he die?
• Are there any previous incidents involving Horspool and firearms?
• How long had he held a gun licence? Can you confirm police were attending to revoke it?
• What is Lincolnshire Police’s policy on responding to firearms incidents? Was this procedure followed?
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Comments
There are 7 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
joggaju
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 02:58 PMWhilst I feel genuinely sorry for the family concerned, I agree with the editor of this paper when he says that the man concerned had committed a crime against a police officer so therefore lost his right to respect - sorry that may sound harsh but the Police officer and his family have to live with the memories of this for the rest of their lives. I hope that Mrs. Horspool and any family do get the help and support they need at this time too. Whatever the Police do in some peoples eyes they are never correct - my answer to that would be obvious - if you think that you can do better then join the force.
web_editor1
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 09:50 AMWe put questions to Lincolnshire Police which some of our readers have been asking. The due process of an inquest must be followed, but it could be argued that some of those questions could be answered now without impingeing on the inquest findings. We haven't criticised the police for their stance but it has demonstrated to our readership that we've asked the questions and given the reason why they cannot be answered. With regards to dropping the man's courtesy title, as soon as it was revealed that he had shot a policeman we treated him the same way as we would have done if he had survived and been charged with a criminal offence.
namcap
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 09:27 PMI have to say the questions do appear to be an act of desperation by the LFP, a very unprofessional approach. Does the reporter seriously believe the police willcan reveal the cause of death before an inquest? Using the man's name in the manner above and not 'Mr' seems very disrespectful. I would expect at the very least the LFP will issue an apology.
12rick12
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 09:02 PMwell said holby
Holby
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 03:29 PMI am not sure you are being reasonable in requesting answers to your questions at this time. The Police must refer any incident involving a weapon or death (whether caused by them or self inflicted) to the IPCC. Some months ago, the Metropolitan Police gave inaccurate information to the media relating to the death of a man and this information had to be corrected by the IPCC. The distress to the victim's family was enormous because of the misleading information. I would imagine that all Chief Constables have been warned on this issue. Further, you are treating the family of the man with contempt by asking personal questions about his death. His family finding out such detail prior to a Coroner's Court or official investigation from a local newspape is unprofessional and unkind. This type of questioning is awful and is not in the public interest. Our thoughts are with the injured officer and the family of the deceased. Yours obviously are not. You are not the judge and jury over the incident and you are not acting in the interests of the community, victim or family of the deceased. We have established procedures for investigating such matters and these procedures have been developed taking into account the many varied constituents affected by any shooting incident. In addition, you only have to look at the National Police Website regarding procedures for arming officers and dealing with such situations. The police operate under a strict code in such matters. As a local newspaper, you should recall there was a national debate in the National Newspapers about whether change to their code of practice was required following high profile shootings by police. Not your finest moment.....
Removed by moderator
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 08:22 PMBecause gun crime doesn't happen much round here, bit obvious really??
Mr Angry of Tonbridge
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:06 PMUnless it was just the helicopter, why did Lincolnshire need help from another force to cope with one job?
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