Met report on Yvonne Fletcher killing may help revive case against Libyan
Gaddafi’s right-hand man Mabrouk could finally face scrutiny over 1984 shooting of WPc at London embassy
THE report into the murder of Yvonne Fletcher has been handed to lawyers suing a Libyan aide to Muammar Gaddafi over her death.
The Scotland Yard dossier, containing almost 600 pages of evidence and submissions, forms the cornerstone of a civil trial beginning this week into the fatal shooting of the policewoman outside the Libyan embassy in central London in 1984.
The trial raises the prospect of a senior Libyan official – Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk – becoming the first person to be face scrutiny for a murder that shocked the nation.
Mabrouk was arrested on charges of conspiracy to murder WPc Fletcher but no charges were brought after the criminal inquriy was dropped in 2017 on grounds of national security.
That prompted John Murray, a retired police officer who cradled WPc Fletcher as she lay dying, to launch a civil claim for assault and battery. He suffered post traumatic stress and will ask the High Court to find Mabrouk responsible.
Mr Murray, 66, who will give evidence this week – the first time he has been able to recount the events in a court of law, said: “After 37 years and six months, the day of reckoning is finally approaching. After all this time, I really hope we can at last get some justice for Yvonne.
“What I hope – if we win – is for the judge to make a recommendation to the Crown Prosecution Service to review the criminal case against Mabrouk. To my mind, he should have been charged four years ago.”
His solicitor Matt Jury, of the law firm McCue Jury and Partners, said: “The secrets and lies that have meant Yvonne’s killers have evaded justice for so long are a national disgrace.
“But, after almost 40 years, the truth may finally be out in the open and justice for Yvonne in sight.”
The trial, which starts on Wednesday, is expected to last three days. The Metropolitan Police files on the case were made available after a court order was lodged by Mr Murray’s legal team.
The Met Police, which is furious that it was prevented from bringing charges against Mabrouk, did not contest the application. The Police Federation is funding the court case.
Scotland Yard had obtained statements from 31 witnesses but it is unclear how many will be called to give evidence at the High Court. A number are thought to have died.
Mabrouk was thrown out of the UK in the immediate aftermath of the shooting but was given some form of “comfort letter” in about 2002 allowing him to return to the UK and which prevented police from stopping and questioning him at the airport. It is alleged that the letter was part of a deal to bring Libya in from the cold that led to it relinquishing its weapons of mass destruction. Prosecution files seen by The Telegraph appear to show Mabrouk’s alleged involvement in the conspiracy.
He is accused of being one of the ringleaders inside the People’s Bureau which allegedly had received orders from Tripoli to shoot at anti-Gaddafi demonstrators protesting outside. Mabrouk is accused of being part of the “prearranged plan to cause death”.
It is claimed that Mabrouk had told pro-Gaddafi supporters where they should stand to avoid being shot by gunmen inside the embassy. It is also claimed he tried to remove safety barriers erected by police prior to the demonstration, leading to his arrest before the shooting began.
Marbouk has denied all wrongdoing, pointing out he was in custody at the time. Mabrouk was expelled from the UK after the criminal case was dropped, preventing lawyers from dragging him to the High Court to give evidence. He is now living in Libya.