Grief of taxi rank victim's mother as 2,000 gather in rain at memorial service for Derrick Bird's victims

Incomprehensible: A little girl, soaking with rain, stands to look at a makeshift cross in Seascale where a memorial service was held today

Anguish: Betty Scoones, the mother of Darren Rewcastle, is comforted by her family as she attends the memorial service

Sombre: Around 500 people attended the service near where Bird struck

In mourning: Seascale stopped as hundreds stopped for the ceremony

Clinging to a friend for comfort, this is the grieving mother of Cumbria massacre victim Darren Rewcastle.

Betty Scoones, 69, was among 2,000 mourners at a memorial service in Whitehaven's square yesterday.

Her 43-year-old taxi driver son was gunned down in the town by mass killer Derrick Bird in what is thought to have been a dispute over fares.
In Seascale, some 500 mourners braved a torrential downpour to express their solidarity.

The 40-minute memorial service was for three victims - Jane Robinson, 66, Michael Pike, 65, and Jamie Clark, 23 - who died within minutes of each other in the village.


High emotion: One woman chews her fingernails and looks distraught

United in grief: A shrine of flowers have been left for David Bird, brother of Cumbria killer Derrick Bird and a message left at the memorial service held in Seascape this morning

A single flower was placed under a simple cross fashioned out of driftwood and left close to the shoreline.
The Reverend Richard Teal, chairman of the Cumbria District of the Methodist Church, told the gathering that the world had been left appalled by the mass killings last Wednesday.

He said that everyone in Seascale would know someone who had been killed or injured.

Margaret Davies, 62, attended the service and said: 'I just wanted to show my sense of community.

'This is a small, tight-knit town and we'll pull through but the whole community needs to stand together and that is why so many turned out.'A church service was held at St Michael's and St Mary's in Egremont where three people were gunned down. Richard Jones, 70, who has been holidaying in Cumbria for the past 40 years, said: 'I've never seen the place so silent, so shocked and so mournful.

'It breaks my heart but I know they'll unite and recover from this.'

Over faltering sound system he said that everyone in Seascale would know someone who had been killed or injured but said the local community had the power and the will to help those affected overcome the tragedy.

The residents said they had attended the memorial service to express their unity in the face of such a shocking and horrifying event.
In Egremont - which saw the killings of residents, Ken Fishburn, 71, Susan Hughes, 57 and Isaac Dixon, 64 - fell walker Richard Jones, 70, who has been holidaying in Western Cumbria every summer for the past 40 years said: 'I've never seen the place so silent, so shocked and so mournful. It breaks my heart but I know they'll unite and recover from this.'

Mr Jones, who lives just 10 miles from Hungerford in Berkshire which saw 16 people killed by Michael Ryan 23 years ago, said: 'It leave an indelible scar and the memory of it will never fade. But strong communities recover from horrendous tragedies and this community is strong enough to come back from this.'

'It's over': Derrick Bird's Thai girlfriend dumped him by text just weeks before he went on gun rampage

Catch: Bird and a fish he caught during one of his Thai trips

World traveller: Bird in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2008

Reputation: Derrick Bird enjoyed scuba-diving holidays, but those who accompanied him said that he was known as a 'lech' and dubbed 'the dog'

Derrick Bird's Thai lover dumped him by text message a few weeks before he went on his gun rampage, friends have revealed.

The overweight and balding 52-year-old was obsessed with the woman he knew only as 'Hon' and had sent her thousands of pounds.

He met the 32-year-old on holiday in Thailand three years ago and she had promised to move to England to be with him.

That prospect was heaven-sent to a man known to friends as 'the dog' because of the way he ogled women.
Yet a few weeks ago she broke the news that she was seeing someone else, sending him the simple message: 'It's over.'



Bird was ribbed by fellow taxi drivers over the shattering of his dream. He had already fallen out with them in a dispute over the poaching of business.

The loss of the money he had sent her just before she called it off would also have increased his financial difficulties.

Yesterday friends told how Bird - single since separating from the mother of his two sons in 1994 - had become fixated on 'Hon' while holidaying with a group of friends in Pattaya in 2007.
During the five-week trip he frequently ogled pole dancers at the Spicy Girls A Go-Go venue or drank at the Kennel bar.

Among those travelling with him was one of the taxi drivers he gunned down, Terry Kennedy, who survived but is due to have his maimed right hand amputated today.

'He chatted to girls in the bars, bought them drinks, took a couple back to the hotel - nothing outrageous or out of the ordinary,' he said from his hospital bed.
'None of the other lads minded, a couple of us have partners and have children so we left him to it most nights, but his behaviour certainly didn't offend me in any way.'

Bird's favourite was 'Hon' - a name thought to be false - and after spending the day on diving trips he would try to win her affections with drinks and gifts.

'Hon looked about 19 but I think she was about 30 at the time,' said Mr Kennedy. 'I knew Derrick liked the lass so I told him to go for it, he had nothing to lose.'

His success with the pretty young Thai girl was in stark contrast to his lack of luck back home in Cumbria, according to friends.

Pub landlord Bob Cullen, who accompanied Bird on a diving trip to the Red Sea, said he had a reputation as a 'lech' with women.

'He used to just stare at them,' he said. 'We used to take the ****, but it wasn't pleasant.

'His nickname among the lads was "the dog". He didn't have a partner because of his drinking. He used to go to Thailand for the women.'

After returning from Thailand to his cramped terraced home in the hamlet of Rowrah, Bird bombarded 'Hon' with letters, emails and text messages.

Last year he flew back out in a bid to see her - only to be deported back to Britain after a drink-fuelled outburst in a stopover in Qatar.

Undeterred he kept sending hundreds of pounds at a time saved from his taxi- driving earnings, another friend said.

'But just a few weeks ago he sent her £1,000, which was a hell of a lot of money for a taxi driver, and then heard nothing from her for days,' said the friend. 'Finally, the woman texted him and told him never to contact her again and she was seeing someone else.
'She had no interest in him whatsoever, he felt like such a mug.

'Derrick said he'd been made a fool out of, he couldn't believe it.

'He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid.

'He went downhill from there, but no one in the world would ever suspected what he would go and do.'

Fellow cabbie Ian Hewer told of the ribbing that followed from other drivers: 'They always like to take the mickey out of him - he was easy to wind up.'

Consumed with paranoia and jealousy, having shot his twin David and solicitor Kevin Commons, Bird murdered fellow cabbie Darren Rewcastle.

He wrongly suspected the 43-year-old of having an affair with Linda Mills, mother of his two children.

He blasted two other drivers at the Whitehaven rank before setting off on his rampage, stopping to shoot Mr Kennedy after their cabs came side by side.

The 52-year-old told how his friend grinned before firing his shotgun into his cab, leaving his face scarred and shattering his hand.

'To think that I classed Derrick as a mate and then go and do this to me and all those other people is beyond words,' the father-of-one said.

What has our dad done? Anguish of mass murderer's sons as family feud is blamed for massacre which left 13 dead

In shock: Derrick Bird's sons Jamie, 16, and Graeme, 28, outside their mother's home in Cumbria today

Victims: Garry Purdham (left) and Susan Hughes were both killed by Derrick Bird

Shot down: (left to right) Taxi driver Darren Rewcastle, Jane Robinson and mole catcher Isaac Dixon

Wounded but alive: Whitehaven taxi driver Don Reed was shot and injured by Bird

* Killer Derrick Bird had held gun licence for 20 years
* Police face questions about why he wasn't stopped sooner
* Victims include his own twin brother and family solicitor
* Six still in hospital - 2 'stable but serious', 4 'comfortable'
* Cameron warns against 'knee-jerk' gun crackdown

Grief etched across his ashen face, the son of mass murderer Derrick Bird today appeared barely able to contain his anguish.

As Graeme Bird spent 90 agonising minutes with his stunned mother Linda - the gunman's ex wife, police were struggling to piece together what turned a 'quiet' cabbie into a killer.

The 52-year-old's bloody spree before he killed himself left 12 people dead yesterday across a string of usually peaceful Lake District towns.

Bird's younger son Jamie, 16, was later also seen outside his mother's home in Lamplugh. His fringe swept across his face, he looked shell-shocked following the events of the last 24 hours.
Detectives are now probing claims that the 52-year-old grandfather had been embroiled in a furious feud with his family about his financial affairs.

It appears clashes with fellow taxi drivers may have been the trigger than sent Bird, who was described by friends as a quiet, unassuming man, over the edge.


Forensic officers examine a car containing a body near Seascale after 52-year-old grandfather Derrick Bird's rampage yesterday

Police officers gather close to the site near the village of Boot, where Bird's body was found

On guard: Police officers stand outside the unassuming house where Derrick Bird lived with his mother

Victims: Bird struck across Cumbria leaving 11 dead in a deadly killing spree

Shattered: Floral tributes were also left in a field where farmer Garry Purdham, 31, was shot dead

Misery: Graeme Bird's wife Victoria who had their first child just two weeks ago is close to tears in the car

He apparently had a petty row with rivals over stealing fares the night before the massacre. is said to have stormed off saying: 'There's going to be a rampage tomorrow.'
The violence was so widespread and indiscriminate that police had to use a helicopter to find some bodies.

The killings, the worst bloodbath since Dunblane in 1996, has already prompted calls for tightening of Britain's gun laws.

Fellow taxi driver Mark Cooper said there had been long-running tensions between the drivers about some drivers taking customers from the back of the rank but suggested wider financial trouble was probably more to blame.

'That's been going on weeks and months, everybody does it. If you're sitting at number one you could be here for ever. There's a lot more taxis on so it's harder to make a living. Obviously with other financial pressures he had, and his mother being ill as well, it's just got to him,' he said.

Mr Cooper insisted the horrific violence was totally out of character. 'Nothing seemed to bother him.
"He'd come down and if he made a pound or made a hundred pounds he wasn't bothered. He used to have a laugh and a joke with you, go for a drink with you,' he said.
Police have confirmed that Bird had held a licence for 20 years for both weapons - a 22 rifle and a shot gun - he used on his spree. More than 100 detectives are working on the sprawling inquiry.

They are working on 30 separate crime scenes amid growing questions about why they failed to stop Bird sooner.Critics suggested the death toll could have been much lower if officers had tracked down the rampaging taxi driver more quickly.

Among the messages of condolence left on the website of local paper the Whitehaven News were angry condemnations of Cumbria Police's handling of the tragedy.

Bob Lunn wrote: 'I feel sorry for the people who have died, and the family and friends that they left behind.

'But how was this guy not stopped sooner? I can understand the inevitable two or three people getting shot, but 12 dead?

'The police should have been all over it as soon as there was a reported shooting. Another (sic) other country and this guy would have been taken out hours earlier. The police have a lot to answer for in my opinion.'

Another critic, giving his name as Simon, added: 'What I can't understand is why did it take so long for the police to find the gunman.

'It's been reported that at 10.30am, when the shootings at Duke Street happened, there was an immediate report made to police of the incident and a description of the car and licence plate.

'But somehow the police could not find him and stop him before he killed himself three hours later.

'Fair enough, Cumbria is a big county, but when you've got two police helicopters in the air, and most of Cumbria police mobilised, you wonder why it took them so long.'
A Cumbria Police spokeswoman said the force could not comment on the criticism.

David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May are due to visit the scenes of the shootings tomorrow.

Today, Bird's eldest son Graham, 28, appeared in public for the first time since the killings to visit his mother in the tiny village of Lamplugh.

He left without making any comment. Yesterday's tragedy came just two weeks after Mr Bird became a father for the first time. It should have been a time of pride and celebration.

Instead, he and his wife Victoria are left to rake over the details of his father's life in a desperate bid to understand the horror that has engulfed them.

The whole family are completely shocked at the turn of events - not least Bird's elderly mother Mary who is said to be utterly distraught.

Relative Joy Ryan, who also lives in Rowrah, said: 'I saw her yesterday and she was just stunned.
She just couldn't make sense of it. She kept saying she wanted to talk to them, she wanted to talk to her sons.'

Mrs Ryan was astonished when her cousin was named as the gunman. Like many others, she insisted he was a 'quiet man' who had always been friendly.

'The first I heard was that someone with a gun was going mad in Whitehaven and the news said it was Derrick Bird and I just thought it must have been somebody else,' she said.


THE 12 VICTIMS

DAVID BIRD: Bird's first victim was his twin brother

KEVIN COMMONS: Bird's solicitor was found dead in the driveway of his house in Frizington

DARREN REWCASTLE: Fellow cabbie was killed at the taxi rank in Whitehaven

KENNETH FISHBURN: Killed as he crossed a bridge in the village of Egremont

SUSAN HUGHES: Shot in Egremont as she walked home with her shopping

JAMES & JENNIFER JACKSON: Mrs Jackson was shot in the street in Wilton. Her husband went to look for her and was also killed

ISAAC DIXON: The part-time mole catcher was talking to a farmer when Bird shot him at a field in Carleton

GARRY PURDHAM: A farmer and rugby player, the father-of-two was shot as he trimmed hedges with his uncle in a field near Gosforth

MICHAEL PIKE: Bird killed him as he rode his bike through the village of Seascale

JANE ROBINSON: Shot dead yards from the home she shared with her twin sister, Barrie, in Seascale

JAMIE CLARK: Estate agent, 23, was on his way back from a viewing when he was killed in Seascale

He looked straight at me and fired, he seemed so calm: Survivor recalls moment she came face to face with killer

Survivor: Carol Youngs, pictured with her husband Jed, feared she would be killed by Derrick Bird

Shocked: A policewoman stands guard over the body of one of Derrick Bird's victims, a fellow taxi driver, in Whitehaven

Shock: A police officer lays a floral tribute in Whitehaven, close to where Mrs Youngs was confronted by Bird after he shot a taxi driver

Crime scene: Police inspect a taxi cab in Whitehaven, where two people were killed

For several terrifying seconds, Carol Youngs stared directly into the eyes of Derrick Bird and then down the barrel of his gun.

There was no time to think or move. As they returned glances, he pressed the firearm - complete with sight - into his shoulder and took aim.

Mrs Youngs, 48, was leaning over the body of Bird's first victim, a taxi driver, in Duke Street, Whitehaven, attempting to save the man's life, despite his terrible injuries.

Her phone was clamped to her ear as she spoke to an emergency operator.
Then the mother of four saw Bird and her heart stopped. Moments later he pulled the trigger and, as the noise of the gunshot rang out, he claimed his second victim of the morning.

The bullet she believes was intended for her hit a passer-by standing on the pavement only feet from where she was crouching.

Showing not a flicker of emotion, Bird - wearing a black fleece and black trousers - lowered the gun and walked away around the corner.
It was utterly terrifying,' Mrs Youngs told the Mail yesterday. 'He looked straight at me and fired.



'He seemed so cool and calm. He didn't appear to be agitated. He wasn't shouting at anyone. He didn't even run away. It was just unbelievable.'

Mrs Youngs had left her home for a 10am appointment at the Absolute Beauty salon. She had been there for half an hour when they heard the first gunshot ring out.
'It sounded like a car backfiring,' she said. 'Some of the girls in the shop and the women went to the door and the window. At that time we had no idea what was going on.

'I saw the taxi driver fall to the ground and I just ran out to help him. I thought he'd just collapsed with health problems. I never suspected that he had been shot.

'I ran over to see if he was OK and then realised that a large section of his face was missing. The entire left side of his face was gone.

'I rang 999 straight away and told the operator, "A man has been shot in the face in Duke Street". The woman asked me to check for a heartbeat and a pulse but I couldn't find one.

'He was already dead. There was very little blood, mainly concentrated at the back of his head.

'I looked up and saw the gunman and he looked at me. He seemed so cool and calm. The butt of the gun was resting on the floor and he was holding the top of it.

'He then picked it up and pointed it at me. I shouted, "He's coming back, he's coming back".
'Everyone was screaming and running away. Then he fired. It missed me but hit the guy who was stood just a few feet away. He fell to the ground and rolled over several times.

'When he finally got to his feet his T-shirt, from back to front, was saturated in blood.'

Bird then lowered his gun and walked away. 'He was so cool,' said Mrs Youngs, who works in a children's home in Whitehaven. 'He didn't look angry. He was just so calm.'

She said she cannot be sure that the bullet was intended for her but in that moment she feared she was about to become Bird's second victim. 'I don't know if he was deliberately aiming the gun at me or if he was just letting off one more shot or if he had come back to make sure the guy was dead,' she added.

'I don't think I'll ever know what his intention was but in that moment he looked straight at me.' Mrs Youngs, a grandmother of two, said she leapt to her feet and ran back into the shop.

'I was still on the phone to 999 at the time and I think the last thing I said to the operator was that the police are here.

'One of the people from the nearby sandwich shop had run out and placed two towels over the body.

'The policeman then ran over, took off his fluorescent jacket and laid it over the man's head before running off after the gunman. He shouted, "Get inside and stay inside. Lock the front and back door".'

Mrs Youngs, whose 44-yearold husband Jed is an engineer, said she believed Bird had been at the wheel of his Picasso when he shot dead the taxi driver before parking the car and getting out.

'He was just so relaxed,' she added. 'He quietly went about his business, calmly turned and just walked away.'

VICTIMS: Twelve who died in a three hour bloodbath in Taxi Driver murderous gun rampage in Cumbria by Derrick Bird

Killed: Jane Robinson, 66, was shot after Bird beckoned her over to his car

Killed: Jane Robinson, 66, was shot after Bird beckoned her over to his car

Shot down: Taxi driver Darren Rewcastle was one of the people killed in Bird's shooting rampage

Easy target: Garry Purdham, pictured with his son Flynn, was killed as he worked on a farm

Twelve victims lost their lives at the hands of Derrick Bird during three hours of mayhem. They were:

DARREN REWCASTLE
A fellow taxi driver in his 30s described as 'a loveable rogue' by other cabbies, he was shot as he walked to a cafe in Whitehaven.

Well-liked by many who used the town's cab ranks, Bird is believed to have accused him of 'touting' by ignoring queues to pick up fares first.

David Nicholson, 56, said: 'He was a quiet lad, never caused anybody any trouble. He used to love playing on slot machin

KEVIN COMMONS

The 60-year-old local solicitor, who had offices around West Cumbria, is thought to have been shot at his farmhouse near Frizington.

He lived with his wife Helen and ran KJ Commons solicitors with branches in Workington, Whitehaven and Carlisle specialising in probate, clinical negligence and personal injury.

Police are seeking to establish whether Bird targeted him after being represented by him or whether he was picked out at random.

DAVID BIRD
Derrick Bird's twin brother, a former mechanic who is believed to have been working as a lorry driver. According to neighbours he was shot in his car close to his home in Frizington.

Friends and relatives said he was far more outgoing than his brother.


SUSAN HUGHES

The 57-year- old was named by neighbours near Egremont as one of the first victims to be picked out at random.

She had two grown-up daughters, one a social worker and the other disabled and wheelchair bound and living in a bungalow nearby.

A neighbour said: 'She was a very quiet and nice person. It has come as a terrible shock.'

KENNETH FISHBURN

Shot dead in Egremont as he returned home from the town centre with his dog.

Aged in his 70s, he was a retired security worker at the nearby Sellafield nuclear power plant.
Local Karl Scarr, 44, said: 'He worked on the gates at Sellafield. After he retired I used to see him in town.

'He always said hello, he was a nice guy.' At the scene a card was left saying: 'RIP Ken - tragically taken but not forgotten'.

It was signed: 'your girls and Marc - Ladbrokes'.

JAMES and JENNIFER JACKSON

The couple in their 60s lived in the pretty hamlet of Wilton, near Egremont, and had a grown-up son and a daughter.

Mrs Jackson was a local church stalwart and arranged the flowers for services.

Friend Michael Garstang said: 'We were having a barbecue just last week with the two of them; you couldn't get two nicer people.'

GARRY PURDHAM

A farmer's son and amateur rugby league player whose brother Rob is captain of Harlequins rugby league side, he was fatally shot as he helped his uncle trim hedges in Gosforth.

Aged 31 with two young children, his father John owned Low Boonwood Farm on Gosforth Hill.

The tough forward had played for Workington Town and Egremont Rangers.

David Bowden, chairman of Workington Town Rugby League Football Club, described him as 'quite simply a gentleman and a real pleasure to know'.

He added: 'As a player he was as honest and industrious on the pitch as indeed he was off it.

'He would think nothing of doing a stint on the farm before turning up to play professional rugby league.'


Micheal Pike
The retired 64-year-old was blasted as he cycled through his home village of Seascale, his family confirmed last night.

Formerly an active trade union organiser at Sellafield, the grandfather of three lived with his wife Sheena and son Jason, 39.

His son said: 'To the best of our knowledge we think this was a random murder. 'We are well aware my father was not the only person who died today and we feel for all the other people who lost loved ones.'

JANE ROBINSON

The pensioner was well-known in the area for delivering Betterware catalogues and feeding pigeons at Sellafield with her twin sister, Barrie, and ran a bird sanctuary in Seascale.

Friend William Hogg, 51, said: 'She was just a very nice lady. Her and her sister were animal lovers, they kept lots of birds and were known locally as 'the pigeon women'.

'It's a massive loss for Barrie. Neither of them were ever married, they lived together. They were so close.'

OTHER VICTIMS
A resident of the hamlet of Carleton thought to have been shot in his vehicle.

A further resident of the Egremont area.

Slaughter in the Lake District: Taxi driver Derrick Bird's first victim was his twin brother

A forensics team inspects a taxi in Coach Road, Whitehaven

Killed in cold blood: Father-of-two Garry Purdham was trimming a hedge when Bird gunned him down from point-blank range

Cumbria Police handout of a map identifying the roads on which Derrick Bird travelled during his shooting spree that left a dozen people dead.Victims: Bird struck across Cumbria leaving 11 dead in a deadly killing spree

A forensics team inspects a taxi in Coach Road, Whitehaven

Rampage: Derrick Bird killed 12 people on his shooting spree through Cumbria, including his twin brother

A trivial row over rivals stealing fares is believed to have sparked a taxi driver's horrific killing spree which left 13 dead yesterday.

After a heated argument on Tuesday night, Derrick Bird is said to have stormed off saying: 'There's going to be a rampage tomorrow.'

Bird, 52, awoke next morning to commit the worst massacre in Britain since Dunblane in 1996.

After shooting dead his twin brother, a solicitor and a taxi driver, he calmly unleashed carnage across the area to the west of the Lake District over the following three hours.


Police officers gather close to the site near the village of Boot, where Bird's body was found

There were at least 30 scenes where Derrick Bird is thought to have opened fire as he went on his rampage, including at this car, covered by police, in Seascale, Cumbria

Scenes of horror: Police were called in to stand guard over bodies at the shooting sites, like this one in Egremont

Forensic officers examine a car containing a body near Seascale after 52-year-old grandfather Derrick Bird's rampage yesterday

Easy target: Garry Purdham, pictured with his son Flynn, was killed as he worked on a farm

Tributes to taxi driver Darren Rewcastle at the scene of his death in Whitehaven

With a shotgun and high-powered rifle pointing from the window of his Citroen Picasso taxi he went on a 20-mile terror drive, killing another nine at random before shooting himself.

A further 25 were injured with eight still in hospital last night, three of them in a critical condition.

The tiny Cumbrian police force was so overwhelmed that bodies were still lying in the streets seven hours after the killings.

Last night the Queen followed Prime Minister David Cameron in expressing her 'heartfelt sympathy' to the grieving.

'I was deeply shocked by the appalling news from Cumbria,' she said.

'In asking you to pass my deepest and most heartfelt sympathy to the families of all those who were killed or injured, and to the injured themselves, I am sure I share in the grief and horror of the whole country.'

Bird had been suffering financial problems, compounded by what he saw as rivals 'touting' unfairly for fares in Whitehaven.

'I called over to him to say I'd drive him home and he replied: 'No, I'm going to sort this out.'

'I'm not surprised he's lost it over this because it's been going on for months and he's been under a lot of financial pressure as a result.'

After Tuesday night's row at the taxi rank, Bird is understood to have gone home and threatened to take his gun and shoot someone, only to be stopped by a friend.

Sources say he then went to a local hospital in a furious mood and asked for treatment from staff before being turned away.
Police are trying to piece together his exact movements that followed. It appears he began his rampage close to home, shooting his twin brother, David, who lived nearby in the village of Frizington.
He then lay in wait at his home for solicitor Kevin Commons, 60, who had made an appointment to visit him, and blasted him in the face.

He drove to Whitehaven to take deadly revenge on fellow taxi driver Darren Rewcastle outside the A2B taxi rank where he worked.

Mr Rewcastle was seen by Bird as one of the worst offenders for stealing fares.

Witness Alan Hannah described how he fled out of Whitehaven after he saw the gunman leaning out of a car window. 'I was waiting at a red light and looked around the corner. I saw a man with a shotgun at the window.

'I just went through the red light and got the hell out of Whitehaven.'

In the carnage that ensued, Cumbria Police and emergency services were so overloaded with 999 calls that they had to call in Lancashire colleagues to help.

As Bird disappeared over a moorland road, police warned locals to stay in their homes and lock their doors.

Among the victims was farmer Garry Purdham, shot dead at point blank range as he worked on his farm with his uncle in the village of Gosforth.

In Seascale, a Betterware catalogue distributor, Jane Robinson, 66, was beckoned over by the killer who blasted her in the face.

GP Barry Walker, who dealt with victims in Seascale, said the injuries were like nothing he had ever seen.

'I'm just amazed by the deliberateness of the shotgun injuries to people's faces and the callousness of shooting people in the street. These were just indiscriminate killings. There was blood flowing in the streets.'
Bird ended his killing spree after he drove south to the remote village of Boot. There he crashed his car and wandered off to the scenic moorland and woods where he shot himself.

Last night police said they were keeping an completely open mind over the motive but were examining 30 different crime scenes, bagging and labelling items of evidence.

It is understood that Bird held a firearms licence for 20 years, Cumbria Police said.

Last night the reverberations from the shooting were felt across the UK and questions will be asked exactly how, after tighter legislation and security, such atrocities can be prevented in the future.