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04/10/03 - Gunmen on run
after market town murder
The Western Mail
POLICE were hunting two gunmen last night who murdered
a man in a hail of automatic fire in the heart of a picturesque
market town.
The white men pulled up in a van before firing a salvo
of bullets at two men, also white, who were in a car
in Brewery Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, eye-witnesses
said.
The second victim suffered minor injuries.
The suspects' van was later found burned out in the
Lampits area of the town.
Police, who were called to the scene at 9.20am, said
the survivor of the ambush was helping them with their
enquiries.
The shooting follows the killing of a mother who was
gunned down while trying to protect her daughter from
armed robbers.
Marian Bates, 64, was shot in the chest after she jumped
in front of daughter Xanthe when a robber produced a
handgun during a raid on a shop in Arnold, Nottingham,
on Tuesday.
Her family called on Government ministers "to
put their money with their mouth is" over gun crime.
Meanwhile, at the Labour conference yesterday, Home
Secretary David Blunkett heralded a record number of
police officers. He vowed to beat the gun-crime culture.
Residents in Hoddesdon yesterday described their feelings
of shock as police insisted there was no threat to anybody
else in the town as a result of the drive-by shooting.
A witness who lives near the scene told Sky News, "It's
a kind of downhill slope. It looked like they came down
the hill on the other side of the road, pulled up close,
and opened up through the car.
"It looked like shots were fired through the car
itself. It looked like him (the victim) and a friend
were coming out of a health centre, and both were injured."
Shop owner Dave Holtby, whose business is opposite
the scene, told Sky News, "We heard several shots
at about 9.20 this morning.
"It's not something you expect on your doorstep
at any time of day, especially in a quiet town like
Hoddesdon.
Hoddesdon is a prosperous market town near Stevenage.
Its main square, which is fronted by mainly Tudor-style
buildings, hosts an outdoor market on Wednesdays and
Fridays.
Market trader Steve Eaves, 45, from Ware, said he heard
the shooting about 100 yards from his stall.
Mr Eaves said between six and 10 shots were fired from
an automatic weapon and a white van was seen driving
from the scene.
The victims were thought to have visited Physical Limit
gym in Brewery Road. Police cordoned off the driveway
to the gym and the entrance to the Faces nightclub opposite.
Jackie Bailey, 44, whose house in Bell Lane backs on
to the nightclub, said Hoddesdon was a very quiet town.
She said, "I heard the shooting, it was so clear.
You could guess what it was.
"Nothing ever happens around here. I think everyone
is in shock. We hear nothing around here, that's why
I love it."
A bullet-scarred blue Peugeot sports car, which had
all its windows shot out, was taken from the scene at
4.42pm.
In August 2000, two armed robbers convicted of murdering
a Sicilian millionaire's wife while stealing her Rolex
watch in Hoddesdon were sentenced to eight life terms.
Daniel Whyte, 24, and Jason James, 29, both from west
Ealing, west London, were found guilty at St Albans
Crown Court of murdering 46-year- old Giuseppina Martorana.
Tory shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin commented,
"
Things will get worse until the Government develops
a coherent strategy for tackling the law and order crisis.
"In contrast to the Government's approach, we are
advocating a long-term coherent strategy to get young
people off the conveyor belt to crime and to recruit 40,000
extra police officers to make our streets safer." |
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