WPC Yvonne Fletcher (Hansard, 20 May 1996)

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what questions relating to the death of WPC Yvonne Fletcher were asked of people taken from the Libyan bureau to Sunningdale; and if he will make a statement on the answers received; [29292]
(2) pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May, Official Report, column 212, if the bullets from the spent cartridge case coincided with the bullet found in the body of WPC Fletcher; [29298]
(3) pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May, Official Report, column 212, how many shots were fired from the first floor window of the building. [29299]

§ Mr. Howard
The continuing investigation into the murder of WPC Fletcher is a matter for the police. The police could not give details which may form part of the evidence in future criminal proceedings without running the risk of prejudicing those proceedings.
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§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 214, at what angle was the body of WPC Fletcher at the time of shooting. [29293]

§ Mr. Howard
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State on 8 May,Official Report, column 214, and to the pathologist's evidence which was put before a jury.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 213, what meetings or correspondence he has had with the parents of WPC Fletcher since the memorial service in Salisbury cathedral. [29294]

§ Mr. Howard
I have had no meetings or correspondence with the parents of WPC Fletcher.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 211, what report he has had from the Metropolitan police about why the video was not presented in evidence at the inquest. [29295]

§ Mr. Howard
The police are reviewing the contents of the Channel 4 "Dispatches" programme of 10 April, including giving specific consideration to this question. I have not yet had a report of their conclusions.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 211, what factors led him to describe Professor Bernard Knight, Surgeon Hugh Thomas and Lieutenant-Colonel George Styles as so-called experts. [29301]

§ Mr. Howard
I refer the hon. Member to the explanation given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State on 8 May,Official Report, column 211.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 211, what factors have made it impossible to charge anyone with the murder of WPC Fletcher. [29300]

§ Mr. Howard
The investigation of crime is a matter for the police. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State made clear to the House on 8 May, the police were unable to obtain enough evidence to sustain a prosecution without the full co-operation of those concerned in the Libyan people's bureau. Such co-operation was not forthcoming. None the less, the police were of the view that it was likely that the murder was committed by one of two people who were in the bureau. Both of them possessed diplomatic immunity and could not be prosecuted under English law even if the necessary evidence had been available.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State of 8 May,Official Report, column 209, if he will put in the Library the exchange of reports between the Libyan people's bureau and Tripoli, indicating the date on which this information was passed to the police. [29291]
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§ Mr. Howard
It is not Government policy to comment on matters which relate to operations carried out by the Security and Intelligence Services or to confirm or deny that such operations have been carried out.