Help me get justice for my murdered colleague WPC Yvonne Fletcher. No-one has ever been prosecuted for her killing, despite the names of the chief suspects being widely reported.

Who am I? :

My name is John Murray, and I am a former Metropolitan Police officer. For thirty-five years I have been fighting for justice for my murdered colleague WPC Yvonne Fletcher. In honour of Yvonne, please help me bring the Chief Suspect, Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, to justice.

Case background: 

On 17 April 1984, Yvonne was sent to police a protest at the Libyan Embassy in London by students opposing the brutal regime of Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi.  She was part of a detachment of around 30 officers, including me.

The Embassy had been taken over and was being controlled and staffed by one of Gaddafi’s Revolutionary Committees (used to surveil the Libyan people and suppress opposition).  

At 10:18am, one or more members of the Revolutionary Committee fired an automatic weapon at the protestors.  Yvonne was shot in the back. She died a short while after in Westminster Hospital.

I was standing next to Yvonne when she was shot and cradled her as she died.  I accompanied her to hospital and would later be asked to identify her body and stand watch over her post-mortem.

In 1984, the suspects, including Mabrouk, were deported to Libya and diplomatic relations between the UK and Libya were terminated.  Mabrouk, went on to become a government minister.

In 1999, the Gaddafi regime finally accepted responsibility for Yvonne’s murder but none of the men responsible have yet been brought justice.

In 2011, following the fall of Gaddafi, Mabrouk fled Libya and sought and was granted asylum in the UK.  In 2015, he was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit Yvonne’s murder.

In 2017, the Government blocked Mabrouk's prosecution on grounds of “national security”.  This is despite a leaked report by the Crown Prosecution Service  concluding that Mabrouk was one of the individuals responsible for a “pre-arranged plan to cause death”.

Mabrouk has always denied any part in Yvonne’s murder.

Why do I need your help?

I want there to be accountability for Yvonne’s murder and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

Mabrouk is not the only suspect.  Three other men have been named but two are deceased and the whereabouts of the third is unknown. Mabrouk lives in Surrey. 

It is a stain on our country and on British justice that suspected murders of a police officer can be allowed to evade justice.  It is a scandal that our own Government has helped them to do so.  

The only remaining option is to bring civil proceedings against Mabrouk in the High Court.  This is Yvonne’s last hope for justice.

What will the money raised be used for?

I have instructed the specialist team at McCue & Partners, who, amongst others, successfully represented the families of the victims of the bombing of Omagh by the IRA in 1998.  They are also currently before the High Court against John Downey, the chief suspect in the murder of four British soldiers in Hyde Park.  In both instances, no-one had ever been successfully prosecuted for these atrocities.

 As a result of these civil actions, in 2008 four men were held liable for the Omagh bombing and the families were ordered to pay £1.6m in damages.  In 2018, John Downey was arrested for a terrorist double-murder and is now facing extradition to the UK from Ireland.

On my behalf, McCue & Partners have instructed Phillippa Kauffman QC and Jessica Jones of Matrix Chambers as my counsel, who recently represented the rape victims of London cab driver John Worboys in a landmark case before the Court of Appeal.

I have been diagnosed with chronic PTSD as a result of witnessing Yvonne’s death but what is important is that Mabrouk is brought to court to answer the allegations against him.  

My hope is that, through these civil proceedings and the evidence they uncover, we will finally learn the truth about Yvonne's murder and who was responsible, and that this will  lead to further criminal charges and prosecutions.

After months of preparation, proceedings have now been served by my lawyers on Mabrouk.  The next step is for us to apply for disclosure of prosecution materials from the authorities that demonstrate Mabrouk’s culpability before we can go to trial.  We know these materials exist and we will apply for them to be produced for use in these proceedings.