Latest news with #CitroenPicasso
BBC News
22-04-2025
- BBC News
Survivors recall Derrick Bird's Cumbria massacre 15 years on
Fifteen years ago, taxi driver Derrick Bird killed 12 people in a murderous shooting spree across Cumbria. Many locals still refuse to speak of it to this day, but some, including survivors and relatives of victims, have shared their stories. The Friend Terry Kennedy had just picked up his first fare of the day, 19-year-old Emma Percival, to take her for a doctor's had been friends with Derrick Bird for years, the pair holidaying together in Thailand and fishing in the Lake District when they weren't chatting at the area's cab ranks."I'd never seen Derrick have an argument with anybody," Terry recalls, adding: "He was just a quiet sort of a bloke."On 2 June 2010, with Emma ensconced in his car, Terry was heading into Whitehaven when he saw his friend's Citroen Picasso approaching. As 52-year-old Bird pulled alongside, Terry told Emma the man they were about to see was probably going to make a stupid joke or was grinning at Terry, the smile remaining fixed as he raised a shotgun and fired straight at his friend's was the sixth person to be shot by Bird that morning, Emma the seventh as she was struck by multiple shotgun pellets."If I hadn't have got my hand up fast enough, he would have taken my head right off," Terry raises his arm to demonstrate his defensive motion, but instead of his hand there is now a stump, the limb that saved him needing to be amputated in the aftermath. Emma is adamant Terry's hand saved her life as well, absorbing the brunt of the point-blank blast."I was covered in glass and blood, my neck was cut," she says, adding: "I had lots of flesh and blood all over me."They were saved from a second shot by Terry's taxi lurching forwards as his foot slipped from the clutch.A policeman quickly came to their aid and got Emma out of the car. They both believed Terry was dead."I felt really bad for leaving him," Emma says, adding: "The panic had kicked in and I thought it was just best to get out of the situation." Miraculously Terry survived and after a long and painful recovery, he tried to return to work."It didn't work out", he says, adding he is still haunted by what happened."It's still raw, you're reminded of it 100 times a day."He does not believe Bird knew he was firing at his friend."I think he was just in a bloodlust for any taxi driver who had given him a hard time," Terry trauma has also been long-lasting, for months she had nightmares about Bird, but she is also very grateful to have survived."Someone was watching over me that day because I got to come home to my little boy," she says. The police chief As Bird was beginning his rampage, Cumbria Police were discussing budget Graham, the then Assistant Chief Constable and a specialist in firearms management, was chairing the meeting at its headquarters in Penrith when, shortly after 10:30 BST, a colleague's phone had been a shooting, they said, an unusual event even in a rural county with a high number of gun owners, Jerry followed was "controlled pandemonium".Phones were ringing, people were shouting at each other over computer screens, a rapidly evolving puzzle needing to be immediately pieced together."I just thought I have to take myself off into a space and try to work out what's happening here," Jerry 11:00 a Gold Command structure was set up, a team formed to direct the emergency response."By then quite a few people had been shot and shot dead," Jerry says, adding: "When I was trying to get resources into the county, [Bird] was making his way through Cumbria on a shooting spree." Bird had started in the early hours by killing his twin David, shooting him 11 times in his brother's then murdered his solicitor, Kevin Commons, waiting in the lawyer's driveway for him to start heading to work before shooting him twice in the can know what was going through Bird's head, but an inquest would later hear his violence was driven by the belief his brother and Mr Commons were conspiring to have him jailed for tax also targeted fellow taxi drivers, shooting three and killing one, Darren Rewcastle, at a rank in Whitehaven in warped revenge for having been the butt of their jokes and Police's armed officers were rapidly scrambled, assisted by firearms officers from the nearby top security Sellafield nuclear site, as well as neighbouring forces. Police were desperate to stop were prepared to launch their cars at speed directly into officers were in helicopters, against protocol, in the hope of spotting him and ceasing his rampage."There were lots of individual acts of bravery shown that day," says now-retired Jerry, tears pooling in his eyes, although he adds there was also great frustration and disappointment Bird could not be stopped sooner."I will go to my grave and this will be etched on my brain," he says, adding: "I go back over it a lot and think often about the families." The publican In total, Bird would kill 12 people and injure 11 along his murderous, 54-mile long drive across west Cumbria, before turning the gun on himself in a targeted people at random, firing at them as they walked down streets, rode bikes or drove their woman was shot dead as she carried home her shopping, a young farmer was felled instantly in his would slow and beckon people over to him, ask the time or directions before shooting them at point blank pulled alongside one parked car, calmly asking a woman if she was having a nice day before shooting her in the she landlord Harry Berger encountered Bird as they came face to face either side of a single-width railway tunnel in the seaside village of Seascale. He reversed his Land Rover back to let the Picasso pass, which is when he first noticed the shotgun barrels pointing out of the other driver's window. "I thought 'that's a bit weird'," Harry stopped and wound down his window, prompting Harry to do the he had a gun pointed at his face."I said you don't want to do that, its not a good thing to do," Harry then Bird Terry earlier in the day, Harry instinctively threw his hand up, two fingers being shot off his right hand before Bird drove from the nearby surgery ran to Harry's aid, firefighters used a ladder as a makeshift stretcher to take him to a nearby shop from where the Great North Air Ambulance took him to would end up shooting himself just 400m from Harry's then-pub, the Woolpack Inn in is pleased Bird is dead, relieved he will never get a phone call saying his attempted murderer and the killer of so many others could be released from prison."My justice is done, he is dead, he is rightly not around," Harry says. The sister With the aid of a walking stick, Barrie Robinson slowly walks through the old lychgate into the graveyard of St Peter's Church in has come to visit her identical twin sister Jane, who was 66 when she was the last of Bird's victims."She was a very active cheerful woman like myself," Barrie recalls, adding: "She loved animals and she loved birds and she was fond of children."The sisters were well-known in Seascale, their large seafront house having operated as a school where Jane taught. Leaving her sister at home on that fateful June morning, Jane was enjoying her new job in retirement delivering Betterware catalogues. She was not far from her front door when a taxi driver beckoned her. "She thought it was somebody wanting to know the way so she immediately walked over," Barrie driver was Bird, who killed Jane instantly with two shots to the heard the wail of sirens and roar of helicopters overhead but had no idea what had happened until a neighbour knocked on the door and broke the man had seen her sister's body not far away, left on the roadside."I dream about her such a lot," Barrie says. "Then you have to wake up and you suddenly think 'oh, its back to square one, she is not here'."Those killed were:David BirdKevin CommonsDarren RewcastleSusan HughesKenneth FishburnIsaac DixonJennifer JacksonJames JacksonGarry PurdhamJames ClarkMichael PikeJane Robinson Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Warning as dog freed from car in spring sunshine
Police have issued a warning after officers smashed a car door window to free a dog that had been left inside. The incident in Clay Cross on Wednesday has led to a plea from Derbyshire Police for people not to leave dogs in cars during warm weather this Easter. An "irresponsible dog owner" had left a dog inside a "very hot" Citroen Picasso which led beat officers and the force's Dog Unit to smash a side window to gain access. A spokesperson for the beat team warned "a car can become as hot as an oven" even in April when the weather doesn't feel that warm. The advice comes as BBC forecasters predict sunshine and highs of 20C (68F) in parts of Derbyshire. Police said the "friendly fella" was freed and taken away, with a message left for the owner. A spokesperson said: "Many people think it's okay to leave their dog in the car if they're parked in the shade or the windows are open. "When it's 22 degrees outside, the car could reach an unbearable 47 degrees within an hour. "It's very dangerous and will cause your dog suffering and harm." The RSPCA recommends anyone seeing a dog inside a vehicle showing signs of heatstroke to call 999. Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Heatstroke in pets likely to rise as climate warms How to keep pets safe in warm weather Derbyshire Police RSPCA: Dogs Die In Hot Cars campaign
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Warning as dog freed by police from hot car in spring sunshine
Police have issued a warning after officers smashed a car door window to free a dog that had been left incident in Clay Cross on Wednesday has led to a plea from Derbyshire Police for people not to leave dogs in cars during warm weather this "irresponsible dog owner" had left a dog inside a "very hot" Citroen Picasso which led beat officers and the force's Dog Unit to smash a side window to gain access.A spokesperson for the beat team warned "a car can become as hot as an oven" even in April when the weather doesn't feel that warm. The advice comes as BBC forecasters predict sunshine and highs of 20C (68F) in parts of said the "friendly fella" was freed and taken away, with a message left for the owner. A spokesperson said: "Many people think it's okay to leave their dog in the car if they're parked in the shade or the windows are open."When it's 22 degrees outside, the car could reach an unbearable 47 degrees within an hour."It's very dangerous and will cause your dog suffering and harm."The RSPCA recommends anyone seeing a dog inside a vehicle showing signs of heatstroke to call 999.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Oxford judge dismisses £48k credit hire claim over £7k car
A judge has rejected a £48,000 credit hire claim after a car worth £7,000 was written off in a Wiltshire, 79, from Grove, Oxfordshire, was given a temporary replacement vehicle through his car insurance on 9 May District Judge Richard Lumb dismissed the claim against the culpable motorist's insurers because of procedural the question of reforming the credit hire industry, he told Oxford County Court people might be surprised by the amount claimed, given the car's value. Credit car hire is a service where a replacement vehicle is provided on credit to a non-fault driver, with the costs claimed from the at-fault driver's his written ruling, Judge Lumb said: "The benefit to the credit hire company is that they can charge, often significantly, enhanced rates for providing the credit service and this has become an extremely lucrative and by and large slick business."The case arose after a car reversed from a driveway into Mr Wiltshire's Citroen Picasso in Tenby, was given a Kia Sportage as a temporary replacement by credit hire firm On Hire Ltd, the court heard. 'Staggering costs' His insurers, acting through Winn Solicitors, which owns On Hire, tried to reclaim hire charges of £48,000 from the other a suitable replacement vehicle could have been hired for three weeks for £1,200, the court Wiltshire only signed a credit agreement a month after the accident, the judge awarded £1,200 to Mr Wiltshire's insurers, dismissing the rest of the claim due to "mistakes made by the claims handlers and fee earners".The judge added: "Many people... may also question why the courts have not intervened in this industry which, given the figures involved paid out by the insurers of the culpable motorists, must surely have an impact on rising motor insurance premiums. "Only new legislation by parliament could alter the position. Whether that will happen remains to be seen."In another recent case, the judge condemned "staggering" credit hire costs and said the insurance industry appeared to be unwilling to campaign for Department for Transport, the Association of British Insurers and Winn Solicitors have been approached for Credit Hire Organisation, which represents the industry, previously said the costs of credit hire only had a "minimal" effect on the average motoring insurance premium. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Alderney Police investigate car thefts
Police are investigating after two cars were stolen in Alderney on Friday. A blue Peugeot 206 was taken from Victoria Street and a black Citroen Picasso from the area of White Gates, police said. The force said one of the vehicles was owned by an on-call member of the ambulance service, and as a result, officers said the incident "potentially put islanders' lives at risk". They want to hear from anyone who saw either of the cars being driven between 20:00 BST on Friday and 04:00 on Saturday. During the same timeframe there was also a collision at the harbour, which caused "significant damage" to a black 4x4. Property owners are being asked to check for damage to fences and hedges, as the Citroen Picasso, taken from the White Gates area on Friday, had damage to its wing mirror from the incident. Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to Alderney Police
