Reward to find PC ‘shrine’ vandal
A RETIRED police officer who was with PC Yvonne Fletcher when she was shot dead outside the Libyan Embassy is out to catch the vandal who threw white paint over her memorial last week.
He is offering £100 from his pension as a reward for information on the culprit. The site in St James’s Square, which is where she was killed during a protest against then Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 1984, was one of five statues targeted in London.
John Murray, who was policing the protest, was standing next to the 25-year-old constable as she died and promised he would find her killer.
The 63-year-old from Chingford, east London, has put up the reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the “heinous act” of vandalism. The culprit wore a face mask and ski goggles, while splashing white paint on five statues in central London on January 20 and 21.
Police are also investigating the other four, which include the “Allies statue” of Second World War prime minister Sir Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D Roosevelt in New Bond Street, the Canada Memorial in Green Park, the Royal Marines Graspan Memorial on The Mall and the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park. Mr Murray said: “It’s disgraceful. When I saw the photograph I was gutted. I regard it as almost a personal shrine. I made a promise to find out what had happened and every time I go there I repeat those words.”
No one has been brought to justice for PC Fletcher’s murder. A suspect was released without charge in 2017. A decision was made that crucial material could not be used in court on grounds of a threat to national security.