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Armed police officers in the back garden of an Upper Holloway house following the gun siege |
POLICE SHOTS END GUN SIEGE
Neighbour: ‘Doorbell rang and it was three guys with big guns’
A MOTHER-of-two has described how police marksmen burst into her home in Upper Holloway on Sunday morning and shot a neighbour threatening to go on a gun rampage.
The shooting victim, Richard Hiorns, 43, was described as recovering from “serious” but non-life-threatening injuries in Whittington Hospital following the siege at his flat on the Kiver Road estate.
For a neighbour, who did not wish to be named, the drama began when her doorbell rang at 9.15am. Expecting friends round for a late breakfast, she was confronted instead by “three guys with big guns”.
The woman said: “They came in and set up a ladder in our garden. They were looking over the terrace into his flat. They told us to get away from the window and I got everyone in one room.
“It seemed like he wanted to kill people – he fired one shot. Then there were three shots from the police. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Mr Hiorns was taken to Whittington Hospital by ambulance at about 9.30am.
The woman added: “The armed guys were clearly not to be messed with – but the police have been very helpful and friendly. They left at about 4pm.”
Mr Hiorns is chairman of Islington Clients of Drug and Alcohol Services (ICDAS) and attended meetings as a drug users’ representative for Camden and Islington Foundation Trust. He was given an award for his services by NHS Islington chief executive Paula Khan in September.
When the Tribune visited Mr Hiorns in hospital this week our reporters were quickly confronted by a policewoman by his bedside and four hospital security guards.
A Met Police spokesman said “shots were discharged” before officers from the specialist firearms unit CO19 opened fire.
The condition of the man shot was “serious but stable”. He had not been arrested and would not until he was well enough to be interviewed, the spokesman added.
The Met’s directorate of professional standards and the Independent Police Complaints Commission have been informed of the shooting and are assessing whether to launch an investigation.
Darryl Nestoros, who was with his mother-in-law in her home next door to the scene of the shooting in the Circle 33 Housing Association building, said Mr Hiorns rang the bell four hours before the siege.
He said: “I heard a kerfuffle and it was him – he wanted a spare key. It was 5am. He was staggering about at the door. He looked totally out of it – gaunt and unshaven.”
Mr Nestoros said Mr Hiorns kept lots of animals, including dogs, cats and a parrot. “It’s like Noah’s Ark in there,” he said of Mr Hiorns’ home. “I always felt sorry for his labradors. The RSPCA have taken the animals away.”
Mr Hiorns, a former psychiatric nurse, grew up in Derby before moving to Islington in the 1990s. After falling on hard times, he turned his life around, devoting his time to helping Islington drug users. He had worked on a number of substance misuse projects for Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. He was often paid by the trust to sit on committees and had an official Islington Primary Care Trust email address.
A spokesman for the foundation trust said: “We can confirm that the man involved in the incident with the Metropolitan Police firearms unit is known to the trust.”
“We will be conducting our own investigation into the incident, which will include a review of any contact our services have had with this individual in recent weeks.
“As the incident may be subject to further legal proceedings, it is not appropriate for us to comment any further at this stage.”
Aside from his work for the foundation trust, Mr Hiorns is the current chairman of ICDAS and runs a blog directing drug users to services and events in Islington. Mr Hiorns’ last post, on September 9, was about a certificate award, made to him and other service users’ representatives on the steps of Islington town hall.
Friends and colleagues of Mr Hiorns were shocked by the shooting this week. Peter Jones, chairman of Islington Borough Users Group (IBUG), said he was too upset to comment.
He added: “He was a really nice bloke – he has suffered a huge personal tragedy. He comes to a lot of meetings and had put in an enormous effort as a volunteer.”
Jason Roberts, a foundation trust governor, said: “He went to a lot of meetings – he did a lot. He was a really nice guy.”
The Kiver Road estate is mostly owned by Circle 33 Housing Association. Many residents said the cul-de-sac where Mr Hiorns was shot was a magnet for low-level crime and police were regularly called out there.
Labour education spokesman Councillor Richard Watts, who lives in Kiver Road, said: “It is a family area, but there are a lot of sirens. I would say part of the estate is quite badly designed. A lot of trouble comes through there, and there is an isolated car park.
“A car was burnt out there recently and there are scooters. I think the housing association should get a grip.” |
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