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15 Jan 1997 : Column 429
Sir Ivan Lawrence: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is obvious that the Crime (Sentences) Bill is leaving this House with a magnificent majority of 208. I hope that it would meet with the approval of everyone here if the House further along the Corridor did not interfere with the conclusions of this House.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. Although the House will admire the mathematics of the hon. and learned Gentleman, that was not a point of order.
PETITION
Raigmore Hospital NHS Trust
10.11 pm
Mr. Charles Kennedy (Ross, Cromarty and Skye): I wish to present to the House a petition that has been signed by 1,200 constituents and others from different parts of Inverness and the highlands of Scotland. The petition calls on the Raigmore hospital NHS trust not to proceed with its proposal to levy car parking charges for those employed by and using the facilities of the hospital. The petition states:
- "To the House of Commons. The petition of staff, patients and visitors of Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, declares that the NHS trust management are considering the introduction of car parking charges. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons support their opposition to such an imposition. And the petitioners remain, etc."
Firearms Control (Mr. Thomas McIntyre)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Anthony Coombs.]
10.13 pm
Dr. John Reid (Motherwell, North): I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the matter of the tragic murder of one of my constituents, Thomas McIntyre. The subject of the debate--although the murder occurred seven years ago--is timeous. The debate comes relatively soon after our discussions in this House on handguns, and immediately prior to a discussion of the firearms legislation in another place.
Only two short months ago, I spent several hours, as did many other hon. Members, with the parents of the children tragically massacred at Dunblane. Those parents were in Parliament for the opening of the debate on handguns, and I, like many others, was deeply moved not only by their circumstances but by their dignity and courage in the face of so much suffering.
At that stage, I and many of my hon. Friends--along with some Government Members--strongly urged the Government to allow a free vote on the issue of handguns. The Government refused. They allowed a free vote on caning in schools, but not on handguns. I do not understand how the administering of a smack on the hand can be such a profound matter as to require a free vote of conscience, while the possibility of using a gun to take a life is less profound in the Government's eyes.
At that time, my constituents wrote to me in sackfuls to support the banning of handguns. However, that was partly influenced by the fact that many of them had shared in a tragedy of our own, long before Dunblane. Everyone has heard of the tragic events of last March in Dunblane, but not many will have heard of the death of Thomas McIntyre, a 19-year-old student teacher from my constituency who was brutally murdered after a night out with some friends, after he had gone to the assistance of a young woman who had been hit by a vehicle as she crossed a road in Glasgow.
My constituent, Thomas McIntyre, was shot and died in a Glasgow street at 1.40 am as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, at the hands of a gun owner, Alan Parkhill, with no history of mental illness, who was a gun club member, trained to shoot, with a legally held licence.
Thomas McIntyre and Alan Parkhill were two young men buried on the same day, one having been murdered and the murderer in turn having committed suicide with his own gun immediately afterwards: two tragedies; two families in grief; two communities in grief.
A public inquiry was held in Glasgow into both deaths, during six days in September and October 1990, before Sheriff Brian S. Lockhart. The findings of that inquiry hold no comfort for those who would have us believe that the potential misuse of widely available handguns can somehow be curbed--or, in the case of Dunblane, should have been curbed--by police action in searching criminal records, or by psychological profiling or other personal or personality searches.
That detailed report, nearly seven years ago, concluded that no reasonable precautions could have been taken by the chief officer of police or by the police themselves in terms of the then legislation, or by any other person or body,
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The sheriff directed that the transcript of the evidence to the inquiry and its determination be remitted to the Secretary of State with the recommendation that he refer them to the Firearms Consultative Committee for consideration, and that the committee give particular attention to the age or ages at which persons should be permitted to hold a firearms certificate relating to weapons of different calibres; the number of firearms and the amount of ammunition that any member of the public should be entitled legally to possess; and all aspects of the storage of firearms and ammunition owned by members of the public. That was in 1990.
The families of both Thomas McIntyre and Alan Parkhill sat through the proceedings in court numb and unbelieving while the events of the tragedy unfolded. Both families--of the victim and of the murderer--were bewildered, precisely because the action of the gunman Alan Parkhill was apparently so out of character.
Alan Parkhill first obtained a shotgun certificate when he was only 16 years of age, and a firearms certificate when he was only 17. That certificate permitted him to acquire a .22 pistol, a .357 revolver and a .22 rimfire rifle. He made application for a firearm certificate under section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968.
In accordance with normal procedure, the police checked criminal records, special branch records and divisional intelligence. The report from the sergeant on the application said that the applicant had been a member of a pistol club for some time, that he seemed to be very knowledgeable about firearms, and, moreover, that he had gone to some considerable expense to ensure the security of the firearms that he intended to purchase. He was a responsible gun club member. He seemed to be a sensible young man, and had the full approval of his parents, which had been sought for his application.
Alan Parkhill and his family were of good character. They were not listed in divisional intelligence officers' files, and there were no local objections to the granting of the certificate. It had been ascertained that he was a member of the Glasgow and District pistol club and the Balornock rifle and pistol club, and that he would use only authorised ranges. After the necessary checks had been made, the applicant was granted his firearms certificate.
When Mr. Parkhill reached 18 years of age, the certificate was altered to allow him to possess one .357 Smith and Wesson revolver and to purchase or acquire one 3 mm pistol, one .357 revolver, one .223 rifle, one .22 pistol and one .22 rimfire rifle, with appropriate ammunition.
Applications were received from the applicant for renewal of his certificate every three years. The same investigations were carried out by the police at the time of each application for renewal as had been carried out when the application was first presented.
In 1989, after normal checks had been carried out by the police, a certificate was issued that allowed Mr. Parkhill to possess--I apologise for going through the list, but it is illustrative--one .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, one .22 Winchester rifle, one .45 Colt pistol, one .22 Colt revolver, one 9 mm Browning pistol and one .223 Remington rifle, as well as 600 rounds of .223 ammunition, 600 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, 500 rounds
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At the time of Parkhill's death, the police accounted for all those weapons, with the exception of the .45 colt pistol, which could not be traced. A Crossman pistol, for which no certificate had been obtained, was found in his possession. The ammunition found at Alan Parkhill's house at the time of his death--apart from six rounds--was within permitted limits. Once again, it was perfectly legal. In view of that list, it may surprise some hon. Members to know that Strathclyde police considered the firearms held by Alan Parkhill at the time of his death to be normal for an average gun enthusiast.
Mr. Parkhill was described by witnesses at the inquiry--people who knew him--as friendly, unaggressive, calm, shy, even-tempered, quiet, well-mannered, respectful, easy-going, level-headed, funny, humorous, a nice guy and a normal bloke. He was described as a diligent and conscientious worker, keen to better himself, a very competent shooter and extremely safety conscious.
After the Hungerford shootings, Mr. Parkhill wrote to the secretary of the Shooters' Rights Association applying for membership. He said:
A young girl, Tracey Patrick, and her friend, David Carracher, had been walking in Sauchiehall street, Glasgow, and had decided to cross Renfield street in the early hours of the morning. They stepped from between parked vehicles and walked into the path of the Land Rover driven by Parkhill, who braked and swerved. Young David was able to jump clear, but the Land Rover struck Tracey Patrick. As she lay unconscious in front of the van, my young constituent Thomas McIntyre, a good Samaritan, ran to her assistance.
As Thomas approached to assist Tracey, Alan Parkhill got out of the Land Rover and drew a 9 mm Browning pistol. As Thomas McIntyre ran across the road to help Tracey Patrick, the gunman of almost impeccable character stood with both arms stretched in front of him and with his feet apart fired his pistol at Thomas. The first shot struck Thomas above the right wrist. As Thomas turned to run from the gunman, Parkhill fired four further shots into his back. He died immediately. One bullet went through his body and struck a taxi driver. Parkhill fired further shots, injuring several others, before placing the pistol close to his right temple, firing the gun and penetrating his brain.
Alan Parkhill was 24 years old when he committed murder and then killed himself. He was said to have been, as I hinted, an able young man, capable of conversing on a range of subjects and interests with a wide variety of people. He was not grossly affected by the fascination of weapons. Thomas McIntyre was murdered for being a
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That was seven years ago, in 1990, so why am I raising the matter after all this time? Why did I decide that it might be of use to the House? Why did Thomas McIntyre's family allow--indeed, encourage--me to raise it? Does it matter after all those years? I raise it because it is a fulcrum of one of the major arguments about handguns. It gives a timely reminder of the danger of widespread availability of handguns. Perhaps above all, it brings home to us the tragic effects.
The case illustrates the massacres of Dunblane and Hungerford in microcosm, in a quieter but no less tragic way. However, the case of Thomas McIntyre and the character of Alan Parkhill, to the eternal bewilderment of everyone involved, also remind us that no amount of character checking, psychological analysis, searching of records or personalty probing can guarantee that tragedies such as this, in which handguns are used to maim and kill, will not happen if handguns are widely available. It gives the lie to those who say that Hungerford or Dunblane would not have happened had the police done their job correctly, or that it should be possible to predict that this or that man may turn out to be a mass murderer.
As the sheriff in the report of the case seven years ago quite specifically stated, the actions of young Alan Parkhill could not have been predicted--indeed, to this day, they remain unexplained.
I have heard it said that, in the hands of a mad man or a drunk, a car or a knife could also maim or kill. It is sometimes said that that possession is also unpredictable. That is to miss one central point. A handgun is not a car, a knife or a rifle. Of course all can be used to kill. But unlike a car, a handgun was not designed for the utility of transporting, or of any other utility. It was designed to be an anti-personnel weapon. Unlike a knife, it has no social utility in essence in its beginning, other than an anti-personnel weapon.
"I realise that now is the time to safeguard shooting in Britain so I offer my full support to the case and hopefully my Club."
On the evening of 17 March 1990, Mr. Parkhill, the easy-going boy of good character, fully responsible, shy and retiring, set out to celebrate a friend's birthday. To celebrate a birthday, he took with him a 9 mm Browning pistol, two magazines of ammunition, some loose live rounds and a sheath knife. He then consumed from 5.30 pm onwards a minimum of four cans of Budweiser, six pints of lager and two gin and tonics. Unsurprisingly, he could not remember where he had parked his Land Rover. However, he did go behind the wheel that fateful evening.
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