Yvonne Fletcher

WPC Yvonne Fletcher   (Policewoman)
Born	Yvonne Joyce Fletcher 1959 Wiltshire, England
Died	17 April 1984 (Age 24) Westminster Hospital, London, England
Victim of	murder
Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead while on duty during a protest outside the Libyan embassy on 17 April 1984, cue for the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the UK and Libya. In 2017 a decision was announced not to prosecute her murder on grounds of "national security".

Yvonne Fletcher, a 25-year-old woman police constable with the Metropolitan Police Service, was shot and killed outside the Libyan People's Bureau in St James's Square in London on 17 April 1984. No one has ever been charged with her murder.

On 16 November 2021, in a civil case brought by former police officer John Murray, Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk was held jointly liable for the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 by High Court Judge Martin Spencer, who said:

“The defendant, who was notably described as having possessed ‘fanatical’ pro-Gaddafi political views, in my judgment clearly assisted in the commission of the shooting, pursuant to the common design.

"He was a 'prime mover' in the plan to shoot the anti-Gaddafi demonstrators and, if necessary, any police officer who was in the way.”

Arrest

On 19 November 2015, Commander Richard Walton, head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard, announced that a Libyan man had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder WPC Yvonne Fletcher three decades ago. The Libyan aged in his 50s was detained in south-east England and is now in custody. He is also suspected of money laundering offences. Two other Libyan nationals - a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s - were also arrested on suspicion of money laundering. The Met is offering a reward of up to £50,000 for information about the killing, as part of a global social media appeal to identify others involved. Commander Walton said that "We have never lost our resolve to solve this case and to bring to justice those who conspired to commit this act of murder."

Number 10 decides to drop the case

However a decision was announced on 16 May 2017 that for reasons of "national security" the murder suspect, Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, would not be taken to court. Senior policing sources told The Telegraph that the case against Mabrouk was dropped after a decision taken at the “highest level”. The source added: “Number 10 was involved.”

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:

“I cannot comment on the details of this case. I would however like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment the Metropolitan police have shown over a prolonged period of time to bring to justice those involved in the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

“WPC Fletcher was one of their own. Her murder remains as shocking and senseless as the day it occurred and I understand that the decision will be deeply disappointing and frustrating for all her family, friends and colleagues.”

Just six days after the dropping of the case against Mabrouk was announced, the Libyan suicide bomber Salman Abedi carried out the 2017 Manchester bombing. Journalist Dan Glazebrook was quick to criticise Prime Minister Theresa May who, when Home Secretary in 2011, had allowed the Manchester bomber and his father – a known member of Al Qaeda's Libyan affiliate, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group – to enter and depart the UK without restrictions to train and fight in Libya. On 20 August 2020, Hashem Abedi, brother of the Manchester bomber, was sentenced to at least 55 years in prison for his part in the atrocity.

Call to reopen the criminal inquiry

On 1 July 2020 SNP MP Allan Dorans urged Boris Johnson at PMQs to “reopen the criminal inquiry into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher”, saying:

“On 17 April 1984, I was a serving police officer in the Metropolitan Police, when WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot and killed while on duty policing a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London.

“No-one has ever been charged in connection with her death. In the light of reports at the weekend about a civil case being brought by her former colleague, PC John Murray, against one of the main suspects, will the Prime Minister pledge to reopen the criminal inquiry into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher?”

The Prime Minister declined to answer. He thanked Dorans “very much for his service in the police”, and for “raising an important subject that I have followed for many years”.

He added: “The murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher was sickening and cowardly. The best thing I can say to the honourable gentleman today is that I would welcome the opportunity to talk to him in person about the issue he has raised, and see what we can do to take the matter forward.”

Murray, who is crowdfunding his civil action against Mabrouk, told The Telegraph he has repeatedly asked Johnson for help.

He said: "When he was mayor I wanted to speak to him. Now if the Metropolitan Police are not going to charge, I thought there might be a chance that him being the head of the organisation might be able to do something for me. But I did not even get an answer; did not even get an acknowledgement."

Yvette Cooper, the chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said that the level of secrecy around the case meant that it should be investigated by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, whose members have security clearance to look at top secret information.

She told the paper: "This was an appalling murder where justice has never been served. Given the seriousness of the case and the lack of scrutiny over these key decisions, all the details should now be provided to the Intelligence and Security Committee so they can decide what further questions should be pursued."

Official Narrative

WPC Yvonne Fletcher's death resulted in an 11-day police siege of the Embassy, from where the fatal shot was fired. The shooting resulted in the expulsion of the Embassy staff and the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Libya. Fletcher's murder became a major factor in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to allow US President Ronald Reagan to launch the USAF bombing raid on Libya in 1986 from American bases in Britain.

Noisy protests

The Libyan People's Bureau, 5 St James's Square, London

On the day of her death, WPC Fletcher was one of a detachment of thirty officers sent to the Libyan Embassy, known as the People's Bureau and located at 5 St James's in London, to monitor a demonstration by Libyan dissidents opposed to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. This particular demonstration was organised by the Libyan National Salvation Front (LNSF), and was in protest at the execution of two students who had criticised Gaddafi in Tripoli.

Gaddafi loyalists at the People's Bureau had warned the police that they intended to mount a counter-demonstration. About 75 protestors arrived by coach from the North of England for the demonstration, and the police kept them and the loyalists apart by the use of crowd control barriers. Loud music was played from the bureau in an apparent attempt to drown out the shouts of the protestors.

Shooting

The officers with WPC Fletcher at the time included her fiancé PC John Murray, who described what happened:

"Yvonne was the only female officer on duty outside the Embassy and let's not forget she was just over 5 foot tall. We were facing the crowd, our backs towards the Embassy when at about 10:30 hours there was a loud bang. I thought someone had thrown a firework, then I looked to my right and saw Yvonne fall to the ground, after a few seconds I ran over to her, we were only feet apart, she was writhing around in pain, but I did not know what had happened, other officers joined me and I glanced at the crowd as I cradled Yvonne's head, I saw several of the demonstrators on the ground covered in bloodand they were all screaming, then they all scattered.

"Suddenly all went quiet, the Square seemed to be deserted, Yvonne was lying in the road, I was cradling her head and other officers were around us. It was then I realised she had been shot.

"An ambulance arrived and Yvonne was placed in the rear. I went with her, also in the ambulance were several of the most seriously wounded demonstrators. During the journey, Yvonne said to me her tummy was hurting. I used the medic scissors to cut her skirt open, it seemed to relieve the pressure. I said to Yvonne I didn't know what had happened, but don't worry I promise we will get whoever did this, she seemed to smile, I knew she understood.

"At the hospital she was seen immediately and I was placed in another room. I was later told by the doctor that she was being taken for surgery but she should be OK. About 1 hour later I was told she had died."

WPC Fletcher’s hat and four other police officers' helmets were left lying in the Square during the ensuing siege on the Embassy, and images of them were repeatedly shown on British and international television in the days that followed.

Siege

Following the shooting, the Embassy was surrounded by armed police for eleven days, in the longest police siege in London's history. Meanwhile, Gaddafi expressed 'disgust' that his diplomats were not being permitted diplomatic immunity, and Libyan soldiers surrounded Britain's Embassy in Tripoli in response.

The UK Government eventually resolved the incident by allowing the Embassy staff to depart the Bureau and then expelling them from the country. Britain then broke off diplomatic relations with Libya.

Subsequent events

At a press conference on 5 April 1999, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook was asked (in relation to the Lockerbie breakthrough): "How quickly do you anticipate relations between the UK and Libya to get back to normal?"

Robin Cook replied:

The United Nations sanctions will now be suspended, and after 90 days will be lifted depending on Kofi Annan's support; that will resolve the international sanctions on Libya.

The United Kingdom does of course also have issues of its own bilateral concerns with Libya, notably the case of the murder of WPC Fletcher. We have said that we would wish to address those issues, and we hope to achieve cooperation with Libya in resolving those issues - hopefully with some good reasonable speed now that we have resolved the Lockerbie case.

In July 1999, the Libyan government publicly accepted 'general responsibility' for the murder and agreed to pay compensation to Fletcher's family. This, together with Libya's eventual efforts in the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing, opened the way for the normalisation of relations between the two countries.

On 24 February 2004, the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 reported that the new Libyan prime minister, Shukri Ghanem, had claimed that his country was not responsible for her murder (nor for the Lockerbie bombing). Ghanem said that Libya had made the admission and paid compensation in order to bring 'peace' and an end to international sanctions.

Murder In St James's

The Official Narrative official view that WPC Fletcher was fired upon and killed by someone in the Libyan Embassy has been disputed by a number of experts, including army ballistics officer Lt-Col George Styles and Home Office pathologist, Hugh Thomas. Prime Minister Tony Blair was questioned on this subject by MP Tam Dalyell in Parliament on 24 June 1997. The Guardian of 23 July 1997 reported a parliamentary speech by Dalyell concerned mainly with the Lockerbie bombing, but also referring to Fletcher's murder:

"With the agreement of Queenie Fletcher, her mother, I raised with the Home Office the three remarkable programmes that were made by Fulcrum, and their producer, Richard Bellfield, called Murder In St. James's. Television speculation is one thing, but this was rather more than that, because on film was George Styles, the senior ballistics officer in the British Army, who said that, as a ballistics expert, he believed that the WPC could not have been killed from the second floor of the Libyan embassy, as was suggested.

"Also on film was my friend, Hugh Thomas, who talked about the angles at which bullets could enter bodies, and the position of those bodies. Hugh Thomas was, for years, the consultant surgeon of the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast, and I suspect he knows more about bullets entering bodies than anybody else in Britain. Above that was Professor Bernard Knight, who, on and off, has been the Home Office pathologist for 25 years. When Bernard Knight gives evidence on film that the official explanation could not be, it is time for an investigation."

Participants who appeared in Channel 4's Dispatches documentary entitled "Murder In St James's" highlighted such issues as the velocity of the bullet and the angle at which it entered Fletcher's body. Lt-Col Styles stated that a high velocity bullet from a Sterling submachine gun would have passed straight through her body at an angle of 15°, and Hugh Thomas rebutted evidence given by Ian West, the pathologist at the inquest, that the 60° angle of entry of the bullet could be explained by Fletcher's turning to the right or left. The film went on to allege that the anti-Gaddafi organisation Al Burkan, which was allegedly funded by the Reagan White House, had obtained a gun from the Hein terrorist group in West Berlin, and used it to kill Fletcher with a single shot from the sixth floor penthouse at 3 St James's Square - the building adjacent to the Embassy. According to the film, the head of Al Burkan, Ragab Zatout, planned to overthrow Gaddafi and seize control of Libya's oil wealth after the severing of diplomatic relations, but his coup attempt on 8 May 1984 was thwarted by the Libyan army.

Murder investigation

Once diplomatic relations had been restored in 1999, officers from the Metropolitan Police went to Libya on a number of occasions to pursue their investigations into her murder.

In June 2007, detectives from Scotland Yard were able to interview the chief Libyan suspect for the first time, following normalisation of political ties with that country. Detectives spent seven weeks in Libya interviewing both witnesses and suspects. Fletcher's mother, Queenie, described these developments as "promising".

In February 2009, Queenie Fletcher suggested that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who at the time was appealing against his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing, should be moved to a prison in Libya, on condition that the Libyan government co-operates with Scotland Yard detectives investigating her daughter’s murder. Mrs Fletcher said:

"I know he is ill and I think he should be returned to a prison in Libya so his family can visit him. The appeal could still go ahead in Scotland, but he could stay in prison in Libya. It’s got to be a fair exchange, so Yvonne’s case can be closed. I’d like the police here to be given permission to interview whoever they’ve got to interview in Libya and see whoever they need to for someone to be brought to trial."

In October 2009 the Daily Telegraph revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had been told by an independent prosecutor that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute two Libyans. A report from April 2007 concluded that the two men, who are now senior members of the Libyan regime played an "instrumental role" in the killing.

In September 2011, Yvonne's former fiancé John Murray travelled to Libya to find out whether the change of regime there had brought the prospect of justice for WPC Fletcher any closer. Accompanied by BBC reporter Allan Little, Murray went in search of Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, who from documents recently recovered from government offices, had been named as a suspect. They spoke to the National Transitional Council's vice-Chairman Abdel Gogha who told them:

"Mabrouk is wanted for crimes against the Libyan people. This includes the murder of Yvonne Fletcher because it was committed from the Libyan Embassy. It is also a crime against Libyans. He will be prosecuted for this in Libya."

Call for Public Inquiry

On 17 April 2014, marking the 30th anniversary of WPC Yvonne Fletcher's murder, the following petition for a Public Inquiry was announced on Facebook:

This month it will mark the 30th anniversary the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher shot while standing opposite the Libyan embassy in St James's Sq. Diminutive in height, but large on bravery and character, Yvonne Fletcher was only accepted at 5’ 2” in the Met Police because of sheer, irrepressible enthusiasm and commitment. Are our memories so careless and short for someone who paid the ultimate price as a public servant? WPC Fletcher’s memory deserves the proper dignity and respect of a more thorough enquiry into her death. The controversy surrounding discrepancies of evidence and ballistics in particular suggest we have not served her memory well. The case should never have been closed without finding out beyond all shadow of doubt, who was responsible. We must call now for the case to be reopened and a Public Inquiry established. Please sign and share this petition.

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Terminal Velocity	article	1997	David Guyatt	Presents evidence that the shots which killed PC Yvonne Fletcher were not fired from the first floor of the Libyan embassy and that other aspects of the official narrative are anomalous. It refers to the work of Joe Vialls.
Document:Theresa May's personal role in facilitating terror attacks	video	5 June 2017	Dan Glazebrook	Theresa May and her Cabinet are complicit in murder. They are war criminals. If the principles established by the Nuremberg Tribunal after World War II were applied, they would be hung.
Document:Yvonne Fletcher - Death in St James	webpage	15 January 1996	Joe Vialls
Document:Yvonne Fletcher - Death in St James-2	webpage	15 January 1996	Joe Vialls

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External links

• BBC News (March 25, 2004), "Timeline: WPC Yvonne Fletcher"
• "The Murder of Policewoman Yvonne Fletcher" Joe Vialls on the holes in the official story
• National Police Memorial image of the Fletcher memorial
• The Guardian (July 23, 1997), speech by Tam Dalyell on Lockerbie and Fletcher's murder
• "Who Killed Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher?" Facebook Group

Footage

• Dispatches - Murder In St. James' Channel 4 Dispatches investigation (since removed by YouTube)
• BBC News footage of the family reaction
• BBC footage of the funeral
• "Yvonne Fletcher murdered by our Spooks"