Police chief has Keith Palmer’s blood on his hands, claims officer
A COLLEAGUE of murdered policeman Keith Palmer said the senior officer responsible for security at Parliament had ‘blood on his hands’.
The officer blamed Chief Superintendent Nick Aldworth for the absence of marksmen when Mr Palmer was killed by Westminster Bridge terrorist Khalid Masood.
The firearms specialists had been based at Carriage Gates where Mr Palmer was stationed on the day of the vehicle terror attack. But three years earlier, they were told to carry out roving patrols in the area instead.
Mr Aldworth was in charge of operations at the Palace of Westminster between March 2014 and May 2015 when the changes are said to have been implemented.
Messages posted on Facebook from four officers were sent anonymously to lawyers representing the widow of Mr Palmer and read out yesterday at the Old Bailey inquest into the deaths of Masood’s victims.
One officer accused Mr Aldworth of threatening him with the sack when he questioned the merit of making marksmen carry out roving patrols. Mr Aldworth ‘bullied and swore’ at the officer after a complaint was made against him, it was said.
The officer said: ‘Keith’s blood is solely on his hands and he got promoted for it.’
Mr Aldworth is now a chief superintendent at the National Counter-Terrorism Police headquarters. He is the national coordinator of the Government’s contest strategy, responsible for ensuring the country is more resilient to terrorist attacks.
A message from a former officer, which was read to the court, said: ‘Those of us that worked at the Palace of Westminster will never forget and have been forever changed. I for one will never be able to forgive. The entire senior leadership team should hang their heads in shame. After the tragedy I was staggered by the bullying. Personally, I left to save my sanity.
‘They care little for the damage they have inflicted on individuals. I make no apology for the bitterness of my words. I look forward to the day I won’t wake up angry.’
Another colleague of Mr Palmer, 48, described security at Parliaidea ment as a ‘ colossal c**k up’ and said Mr Aldworth ‘spent time justifying his position to aspire to the next rank’. The officer wrote: ‘So many sleep soundly at night convinced of their own infallibility, that they did what was necessary for the greater good.
‘But as is far too often the case had they bothered to confer with those that actually did the job, they might not have made the wrong decision.’ Another officer said bosses were told it was a bad to replace fixed positions for marksmen with roving patrols.
He added: ‘Did they listen? Take off the fixed posts, let them do a roaming patrol. That’s not going to end well. The marksmen won’t be where you want them when it all goes wrong.’
Giving evidence, Mr Aldworth denied moving firearms officers from fixed positions to roving patrols. He said: ‘Throughout my tenure I did nothing but to try ensure post notes [instructions] were adhered to and to anchor armed officers to Carriage Gates.’
In just 82 horrifying seconds in March last year, Masood, 52, knocked down Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Andreea Cristea, 31, before stabbing Mr Palmer.
Masood was driving a 4x4 car at an average of 31mph before crashing. The rampage ended when he was shot dead by a plain- clothes officer.
The inquest continues.
‘I left to save my sanity’