OPERATION BRIDGE - Cumbria Constabulary

GPMS RESTRICTED
8.151 At 11:00 hrs Derrick BIRD left the Thornhill Estate and crossed the
A595 into narrow lanes past the village of Carleton towards Wilton.
8.152 Gladys and Joseph WARBRICK were unloading shopping from their
car in Carleton when Derrick BIRD pulled up close to their drive and
shouted out, again asking for the time. Joseph called out the time but
neither of them approached the taxi window and he drove on.
8.153 At this time, around 11:00 hrs the police were informed of David
BIRD’S death. Whilst this incident occurred several hours before, this
was not known at the time of the report and resulted in Cumbria
Constabulary having to take account of incidents being reported out
of sequence. This could easily have resulted in resources being
diverted to attend locations away from Derrick BIRD’S last known
offence, although it is clear that such confusion did not occur. The
FIM accurately assessed each call and was not affected by the
sequence of reporting.
8.154 By this time 20 armed Cumbria Constabulary officers were deployed
at strategic locations around the force area. They were supported by
two CNC ARVs.
8.155 These additional CNC resources were in addition to every available
uniformed, armed and unarmed, resource that Cumbria had at its
disposal, in an attempt to locate and intercept Derrick BIRD.
8.156 At 11:00 hrs Cumbria Constabulary closed down their website and
utilised it to support a media message that had gone to all local
media to warn them of the incident and the presence of a man
actively shooting members of the public.
OBSERVATION 5:
Cumbria Constabulary quickly identified that it had a duty to warn the
public. They used their media line, their website, shop watch radio
links, direct phone calls to vulnerable locations and the use of “sky
shout” from the police helicopter to warn the public.
The review team commends the proactive use of the media and other
means to warn members of the public in this case.
8.157 At 11:05 hrs Derrick BIRD continued along single track lanes and unmade
roads until he came across Isaac DIXON on the Egremont to
Haile Road. He was seen to slow down and stop alongside Isaac.
The post mortem examination shows he received two fatal wounds
from the shotgun at close range. Isaac’s body was not found until
some time later.
THIS REPORT IS EMBARGOED
UNTIL 4PM MONDAY 28 TH MARCH 2011
44