Met chief ‘locked himself in car’ as Pc was stabbed by Westminster attacker
THE acting Metropolitan Police commissioner locked himself in his car as he watched the Westminster terrorist kill one of his colleagues, because he had “no protective equipment and no radio”, he told an inquest yesterday.
Sir Craig Mackey, now deputy commissioner of Scotland Yard, said that despite witnessing Khalid Masood “purposefully” lunge at everyone in his path with a butcher’s knife, he realised that had he got out of his vehicle, he would have been a target.
Instead, he remained in his black saloon car within the Palace of Westminster as the 52-year-old fatally stabbed Pc Keith Palmer.
“I could see Pc Palmer moving backwards and then go down,” he told the jury at the Old Bailey.
“The next thing I could see is the male over Pc Palmer and I saw two stab attempts into this side of the torso.
“The attacker had one of those looks where, if they get you in that look, they would be after you. He seemed absolutely focused on getting further down and attacking anyone in his way.”
Pc Palmer, 48, was killed as he challenged Masood in New Palace Yard outside the House of Commons on March 22 last year.
He had just knocked down and killed four pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. The jury later saw footage of the moment Masood was shot dead by a ministerial close protection officer.
Sir Craig, who had been at a meeting with Brandon Lewis, the Policing Minister, was being driven out of the Palace of Westminster alongside his chauffeur and chief of staff when the carnage unfolded.
He told the jury: “The thing that still shakes me about the attack is that it was 80-plus seconds in total. It didn’t feel like that, it felt an awfully long time.” Sir Craig said it was his “instinct” to get out of the vehicle but he “quite rightfully” took the advice of a police officer near the car who told him “get out, make safe, go, shut the door”.
“That’s when I thought, ‘I have got to start putting everything in place. We have got no protective equipment, no radio, I have got two colleagues with me who are quite distressed’, so we moved out,” he added.
“If anyone had got out, the way this Masood was looking, anyone who got in his way would have been a target.
“I think anyone who came up against that individual would have faced serious, serious injury, if not death.”
The 56-year-old, who was knighted this year, stepped down as acting commissioner last April and was replaced by Cressida Dick. He is due to retire in December.
Chief coroner Mark Lucraft QC, last week ruled that Pc Palmer might still be alive were it not for shortcomings in the security at Westminster.
The officer’s widow, Melissa, accused the Met of leaving her husband to die with no protection, failing to take responsibility for its mistakes and not investigating his death properly. The inquest was adjourned until tomorrow.