Watchdog criticises police forces over events leading to double murder

The police watchdog has heavily criticised two police forces for failing to protect an innocent couple gunned down in a gangland revenge execution for a crime their son committed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said the murders of John and Joan Stirland could have been prevented and that Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire police failed in their duties.

The couple who were shot at their seaside bungalow in Trusthorpe, Lincs were originally from Nottingham but forced to flee when Mrs Stirland`s son Michael O`Brien was convicted of murder

On the day of the murders, Mrs Stirland had made desperate phone calls to Nottinghamshire police to report a prowler. Firstly, at 11am and then again at 2pm but it took over an hour for the details to be faxed to Lincolnshire and by the time police arrived at the couples home they were dead.

The case of neglect was so serious that at one stage, a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service by the IPCC but they found no criminal proceedings should be brought against police officers.

The investigation resulted in a series of recommendations to the forces which were taken onboard by both forces chief constables, Steve Green at Nottinghamshire, and Richard Compton at Lincolnshire.

Seven of the Nottinghamshire officers were found to be in breach of the police conduct regulations relating to performance of duties. Any decision over disciplinary action will need to be taken by the force.

The three-year IPCC investigation examined how efficiently the Nottinghamshire Police and their Lincolnshire counterparts shared information about the possible threat to the couple.

The murder of the Stirlands came less than a week after the death of Jamie Gunn – the nephew of Nottingham crime boss Colin Gunn.

Jamie, 19, died of pneumonia having turned to drink and drugs following the death of his friend Marvyn Bradshaw, who was shot by Mrs Stirland`s son Michael. Jamie Gunn was in the same car as his friend at the time he was shot.

The watchdog revealed today: “The report has concluded that the protection provided to Mr and Mrs Stirland by Nottinghamshire Police was below an acceptable level.

“They did not receive any professional advice on witness protection and their care was left to untrained officers.”

“There is evidence that Joan Stirland was confused at the time and didn`t know what to do.

“The police should have closely managed their movements at that vulnerable time by taking some form of structured action to reflect their vulnerability and provided a degree of immediate support and protection, eg by accompanying them to a hotel or place of refuge.”

Despite Mrs Stirland telling police where they could find her son, she and her husband John had to flee their quiet suburban home in Nottingham after it was shot at by a gunman on a motorbike.

Joan, a 51-year-old nurse, and her 55-year-old husband, stayed in a bedsit in Goole, East Yorkshire, before later travelling to Trusthorpe

But Colin Gunn and his henchmen tracked them down. He was jailed for 35 years in June 2006 for conspiracy to murder the Stirlands after a jury heard that they were shot at close range by men dressed in boiler suits.

After the trial the IPCC launched an investigation into how Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Police shared their intelligence.

At a later trial, it emerged Colin Gunn had used corrupt police officers to find out how the investigation into the Stirlands` murder was going.

Gunn, 40, of Rise Park, Nottingham, is currently serving a minimum jail term of 35 years.

John Russell, 29, of Northcote Way, Nottingham, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years, and Michael McNee, 22, of no fixed address, was jailed for at least 25 years after being found guilty of conspiring to murder the Stirlands.

To secure the convictions, police had to track 11 “murder phones” over hundreds of miles for ten days, analysing m