Minister in Gun Horror
Do you think they're taking "officer safety" to a bit of an extreme...?!?By Justin Davenport Crime Correspondent, Evening Standard
7 April 2005
A minister was caught up in a terrifying driveby shooting.
Tottenham MP David Lammy held the 17-year-old victim who was bleeding profusely.
The youth was hit with a single shot after a car pulled up alongside him on the Broadwater Farm Estate.
Today Mr Lammy, who is minister for constitutional affairs, said: "The atmosphere was tense, scared and angry. It was extremely harrowing and frightening. I attended to the boy and said that he should not be moved. People were trying to stem the bleeding with items of clothing."
He added: "It was extremely distressing to see a boy bleeding from a gunshot wound on one of our streets." Mr Lammy, 32, a rising star in the Labour party, criticised police officers who refused to allow an ambulance crew to reach the victim because they had sealed off the area while they carried out a risk assessment.
The youth, who was seriously injured, was shot outside a community centre in the early hours of Sunday morning where Mr Lammy was attending a function.
People rushed outside on hearing the shot to find the victim lying on the pavement and bleeding heavily.
However, police and ambulance crews were kept outside the estate for about 10 minutes. Mr Lammy said: "We could see the blue lights flashing in the distance. This young man lay bleeding while people were trying to help him.
"Police arrived just outside Broadwater Farm and there was a delay of about 10 minutes before they came in, people were incredibly frustrated."
The MP had been a guest at the Haringey Ghanaian Community's annual celebration at the Broadwater Centre. The event was attended by 400 guests including the victim's parents.
Mr Lammy said: "The issue of the delay in the police reaching the scene is extremely worrying and disturbing. I have asked for an explanation of why this should be the case.
"All of us were anxious to get him help as soon as possible. Some people were very angry. We have got extra police on the street and so when people call 999 it is important that they receive that service."
The incident comes months after police were severely criticised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission over their reaction to the "barbecue killings" at Highmoor Cross in Oxfordshire.
Vicky Horgan and her sister Emma Walton died when Vicky's estranged husband Stuart Horgan walked into her home and shot them.
But it was 64 minutes before armed police were allowed to go into the house because senior officers feared for their safety.
Today Scotland Yard said police were called to the shooting incident in Tottenham at 12.04am on Sunday.
Local unarmed officers reached the scene at 12.12pm but were held at a rendezvous point for 12 minutes while a risk assessment was carried out before they were allowed to help the victim.
The Yard said an armed response crew was called to the scene but a spokesman said it could not say when the armed officers arrived or why unarmed police got there before them.
The London Ambulance Service said it received a 999 call at 12.03am and dispatched an ambulance and a paramedic fast response car to the scene. The car reached the rendezvous point at 12.18 but the ambulance service was unable to say how long it took to reach the victim.
The teenager was not taken to hospital by ambulance until 40 minutes after the first call was made. He is being treated in hospital.
Mr Lammy said he had written to the Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and made a formal written complaint to Chief Superintendent Stephen Bloomfield, the Haringey borough commander. Mr Bloomfield said police had launched an inquiry into the incident. He said: "I understand the concern."
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