Yvonne Fletcher’s best friend still blames himself for death
AN ex-police officer who held his best friend PC Yvonne Fletcher as she lay dying fought back tears in court yesterday as he recalled her killing.
John Murray, 66, said he suffers “nightmares and flashbacks” from the shooting 37 years ago and still blames himself for her death.
Mr Murray gave evidence after decades of campaigning for justice for PC Fletcher, who was shot outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984 during violent protests.
Yesterday, he spoke in the High Court as part of his civil case against former Colonel Gaddafi aide Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk.
Mr Murray, who revealed he and Yvonne swapped positions to keep themselves moving, said: “I blamed myself. I felt responsible for Yvonne’s
murder. If I had not changed places with her it would have been me. But I survived it and Yvonne was shot.
“I felt like I had let her down and it was all my fault, so ashamed as she died in my place as far as I was concerned. I felt very bad and had bad dreams, flashbacks. Now I see Yvonne nearly every day.
“She is with me here today. I know that. She was my best friend and I let her down. I feel responsible for what happened to her.”
Mr Murray said he worked alongside PC Fletcher, 25, on a community beat in Covent Garden. But on April 17, 1984, a desk sergeant sent them to help out at the protests.
He told the court they were close friends, adding she had a boyfriend and he was married.
Recalling the moment she was shot, he said: “I just heard a bang. I saw Yvonne fall as she fell to the ground.
“It was the sound of a firecracker. I could see other people hit the ground but my main focus was Yvonne and I ran over to her.
“It all happened so quickly. ran over to her.There was blood there. Then she stopped breathing and we were trying to give her the kiss of life.” Mabrouk, an ex-henchman of Libyan despot Gaddafi, was a “leading participant” in a “common design to use extreme violence by gunfire” at the Libyan Embassy protests, the court has previously heard.
The allegation is not that Mabrouk fired the actual shots but that he was jointly liable for the events that took place. He was arrested in 2015 but could not be charged as evidence was kept secret to protect national security.
Mr Murray is suing Mabrouk, who is in Libya, for a nominal £1 after he suffered PTSD as a result. The hearing, set to last three days, continues.