Thursday, 2 September 2010, 9:00PM – 10:00PM

Original image removed due to complaint by Mohamed Maklouf. R.I.P. Yvonne Fletcher.

On April 17th 1984, Yvonne Fletcher, a young female constable, was murdered as she policed a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy. A gunman opened fire from the building and PC Fletcher was shot in the back and fatally wounded.

Her murder triggered a political and diplomatic storm but no-one has ever been brought to account for her death. Over quarter of a century later, the family and friends of PC Yvonne Fletcher are still asking who killed her and questioning why they can’t be brought to justice.

For the first time, Real Crime pieces together the crucial events leading up to and following the murder of Yvonne Fletcher.

Formerly unseen evidence featured in the programme suggests that there may have been sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution for conspiracy to murder against two Libyans – Mohammed Matouk and Abdulgader Baghdadi. Following eye witness evidence, police diagrams and photographs, the programme outlines their alleged movements on the day of the shooting.

The former British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, describes how he was summoned to a late night meeting in Tripoli with Libyan government officials just over twelve hours before Yvonne Fletcher was shot. He tells the programme:

“They told me that there was a demonstration planned for the following morning outside the Libyan office in London and that I was to get it stopped. I said, ‘You must be joking. You have demonstrations outside my embassy from time to time. The same thing will happen in London.’ They said, ‘You don’t understand, this is different. This is very important. We are giving you a really serious message. You must have it stopped.’”

The documentary also includes incredible eye witness accounts of the shooting. Yvonne Fletcher’s friend and colleague, John Murray, was standing just a few feet away when she was shot. He describes how he cradled her head in the street and then took her in an ambulance to hospital.

John tells the programme:

“I said to Yvonne in that ambulance, ‘Yvonne you’ll be ok and we will get whoever did this.
Don’t worry, we’ll get them.’”

The programme also features some of the Libyans who were protesting in St James Square on the day of the murder. Mohammed Maklouf and Guma el-Gamaty both speak of the moment when the firing began and they ran for cover.

Guma el-Gamaty says: “There were two windows. Lifted up maybe ten twelve inches high or so. And the shots rang out.”

Mohammed Maklouf says: “The first thing I saw was the police woman collapsing.”

As PC Fletcher’s friends and family mourned her death, an armed stand off between the police and the Libyans inside the embassy had started. In theory, the murderer was cornered but any action against the Libyan embassy had to be sanctioned by the government.

With the Prime Minister abroad, the Home Secretary, Leon Britton, was responsible for the crisis. He tells the programme:

“I was conscious of the tremendous responsibility of course. It was probably the greatest single crisis responsibility that I had in my career.”

Lord Britton explains why he refused to bow to public pressure to storm the building, even though many police officers believed Yvonne Fletcher’s killer was inside. He also reveals how he feared for the lives of the eight thousand Britons living in Libya if he sanctioned an attack on the Libyan embassy. Within hours of the shooting in London, the British embassy in Tripoli was also surrounded.

Eleven days after the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher, Britain watched in horror as the Libyans walked out of the embassy and returned home to a hero’s welcome.