Yvonne Fletcher

WPC (Woman Police Constable) Yvonne Fletcher (1959–17 April 1984) was a British policewoman killed during a protest in London's St. James Square on 17 April 1984 known as the 1984 Libyan Embassy Siege.

Yvonne Fletcher was born in Wiltshire and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1977. At 5ft 2¾in (159cm) tall, she was believed to be Britain's shortest police officer (at that time minimum height limits were generally enforced for police officers).

On the day of her death, WPC Fletcher was one of a detachment of thirty officers sent to St James's Square to police a demonstration by Libyan dissidents opposed to Colonel Gaddafi's rule. This particular demonstration was specifically protesting his execution of two students who had criticised him in Tripoli. The Libyan Embassy, known as the Libyan People's Bureau, was located in the square and since February 1984 had been staffed by Gaddafi loyalists instead of professional diplomats. They warned the police that they intended to mount a counter-demonstration.

About 75 anti-Gaddafi demonstrators turned up and the police kept them and the pro-Gaddafi loyalists apart with crash barriers. Loud music was played from the Libyan People's Bureau in an attempt to drown out the shouts of the demonstrators. At 10.18 am shots rang out and Yvonne Fletcher was hit in the back. She died soon after arriving at hospital. Eleven other people were injured in the attack. It is generally accepted the WPC Fletcher was killed by someone who opened fire with a Sterling sub-machine gun on protesters from inside the bureau. Others claim that her murder was the result of a different conspiracy, involving elements of the UK government. Her hat and four policemen's helmets were left lying in the square during the subsequent siege and were continually shown on British and international television in the days that followed. The British public were horrified - Yvonne Fletcher was the first policewoman ever murdered on duty in Britain.

There followed the longest police siege in London's history, as the bureau was surrounded by armed police for eleven days. Gaddafi expressed 'disgust' that his diplomats were not being permitted diplomatic immunity. Wishing to avoid an international incident, the British Government allowed the embassy staff to leave (on the day of Yvonne's funeral), and then expelled them from the country and broke off diplomatic relations with Libya.

In July 1999 the Libyan government publicly accepted "general responsibility" for the murder and agreed to pay compensation to WPC Fletcher's family. This, together with Libya's actions regarding the Lockerbie bombing, opened the way ahead for the normalisation of relations between the two countries.

The new Libyan Prime Minister, Shukri Ghanem, claims (Associated Press 24 Feb 2004) that his country was not responsible for Fletcher's murder (nor for the Lockerbie bombing) and that Libya agreed to the admission and compensation in order to end sanctions against the country.

There is now a memorial to Yvonne Fletcher in St James's Square, and her death sparked the creation of the Police Memorial Trust.

See also

* National Police Memorial

External links

* BBC News - On This Day - April 17th - 1984: Libyan embassy shots kill policewoman (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/17/newsid_2488000/2488369.stm)
* BBC News - Timeline:WPC Yvonne Fletcher (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3567951.stm)
* Google on "Yvonne Fletcher" or "Joe Vialls" for alternate theories.