A police force is under investigation over claims that a man convicted of shooting two women dead was allowed to have a gun despite officers being told over a decade ago that he had wanted to hire a hitman to kill a former partner.
John Lowe, 82, was found guilty of murdering his partner Christine Lee, 66, and her daughter Lucy Lee, 40, on a puppy farm near Farnham, Surrey, in February. The shotgun used to shoot the two women was one that had been taken away by police months earlier, and then handed back to Lowe.
In March 2013 the police took his weapons away over concerns he was unfit to have a gun licence, having made threats to kill. But his weapons were returned to him in July 2013 after the complaint was dropped and staff decided he was fit to have a gun.
Lowe told police after the shootings that he had “put down” the women after they had been “giving me shit for weeks”.
Three police staff are facing investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for gross misconduct and Surrey police are reviewing all their decisions to hand back revoked gun licences for the past two and a half years.
After the verdicts, Christine’s daughter Stacy Banner said: “The shotgun was one of seven that had been returned to him by the police only months before he used it to kill.”
She added: “John Lowe pulled the trigger, but it was the Surrey police who put the gun in his hands.”
Surrey police have accepted that the decision to return the guns to Lowe was flawed.
Lowe is alleged to have tried to hire a hitman in the late 1990s, according to a registered police informant.
The police informant told the Guardian that in 1997 Lowe approached him to find someone who could kill his then partner.
The informant said Lowe knew him through a business relationship. He says he told a special police squad outside the Surrey area about Lowe’s desire to hire a hitman, and the intended female target. He claims he was told this information had been passed on to Surrey police who decided to treat it as “intelligence”.
The police informant’s claims cannot be verified, but the IPCC has spoken to him and confirmed that his allegations will be part of their inquiry into the extent of Surrey police’s blunders in allowing Lowe to have a gun licence.
The informant said: “From what I reported, he should not have been in possession of a gun licence since the late 1990s.”
Lowe was convicted after a trial at Guildford crown court. He was found guilty of both murders and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Lowe claimed in court both shootings were an accident. But he reloaded his .410-calibre shotgun between the shots.
After the verdicts, Christine Lee’s sister, Julia James, praised the murdered women, who put others before themselves: “Christine and Lucy put the needs of others first. My sister had a heart of gold and was full of life. Lucy believed in protecting life and being kind to others.
“I witnessed on numerous occasions how caring Christine and Lucy had been towards Lowe. It has been heartbreaking listening to his lies.”
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “It is clear that John Lowe should never have had a gun. We now need gun laws to be strengthened.
“We have already called for reforms to the law that would mean there would be a legal presumption that those with a history of violence or domestic abuse who have committed any form of domestic violence would not be allowed a gun licence. We also need much stronger background checks. At the moment the government has concentrated on guidance, but that is not strong enough.”
The shootings happened at Lowe’s farm, called Keepers Cottage. The 82-year-old had run a dog- and horse-breeding business for many years. Christine and Lucy Lee helped out on the farm, but the relationship came under strain, with arguments over money and how the two women were looking after Lowe and the animals.
During the trial Guildford crown court heard that Lowe first shot Christine. Lucy, 40, made a “desperate” emergency call to police saying he had shot her mother.
She then told the operator: “I’m running for my life,” begged for police to be sent, and said that she was going back to confront the 82-year-old. Her final words to the 999 operator were: “I don’t know whether I’m going to be alive if I go back in there. He shot my mum.” She was shot twice in the chest and back of the head.
Lowe told the jury he had taken out a double-barrelled shotgun – which he usually used for shooting rats – from his gun cabinet with the intention of killing his four dogs. He said the shooting of the two women was accidental.
Lowe said of the women he shot: “They had not been very kind lately. I was starving to death. They kept saying they were going to put me in care. I might have been fed up with them. I wasn’t angry with them one little bit.”
The prosecutor, Mark Dennis, said: “You effectively executed both women by shooting at close range when they were defenceless.”
Lowe replied: “You’re making it up. [Christine] pulled the gun and it pulled on my finger. She dropped down like a log and I naturally thought: ‘Oh dear’.”
Surrey police’s assistant chief constable, Stuart Cundy, accepted that the decision to return the guns to Lowe was flawed. He said: “We commissioned two independent reports by firearms licensing experts from Hampshire constabulary and North Yorkshire police.
“The initial findings from both reports indicate the decision was flawed and did not meet national standards.
“Whilst the full investigation into this matter remains ongoing, in light of these early findings we have spoken with members of Christine and Lucy Lee’s family to apologise for this.
“The safety of the public is our primary concern and we have already taken steps to ensure our firearms licensing policy and procedures are in line with national best practice.”
Lowe will be sentenced on Friday. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence, and the issue for the judge will be the minimum time he will spend in prison before he can be considered for release on licence.
In a statement the IPCC said: “Following the shooting Surrey police referred their prior contact with Mr Lowe to the IPCC. This contact involved the seizure of a number of licensed shotguns from Mr Lowe in March 2013, which were returned to him in July 2013.
“At this stage, the IPCC decided to carry out a supervised investigation led by Surrey police who commissioned firearms experts from Hampshire Constabulary and North Yorkshire police.
“The investigation looked into Surrey police’s decision to return the firearms. The report from this supervised investigation was completed in September and identified potential gross misconduct issues.
“As a result the IPCC is now carrying out an independent investigation. Surrey police has already issued misconduct notices to three Surrey police staff members.”
Speaking outside court, Banner said Lowe “brutally and deliberately murdered my mum and my sister by shooting each of them at close range with a shotgun – they did not stand a chance”.
She added: “My life stopped when their lives ended on 23 February this year. It will never be the same for me or my children, who have lost their aunt and Nanny Burger King.”
She also called for the way gun licensing decisions are made to be changed.
She said: “Licensing cannot be left entirely up to the police. There need to be thorough and regular multi-agency assessments for would-be gun-holders. And the cost of a shotgun licence needs to be significantly increased.”
