ianstone
06-03-2010, 09:25 PM
Tax bill that drove mass murderer Derrick Bird over the edge
By James Tozer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=James+Tozer), Jaya Narain (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jaya+Narain) and Paul Sims (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Paul+Sims)
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 4th June 2010
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
Read more: http://live-mailonline.anl.dmgt.net/news/article-1283684/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Derrick-Birds-son-agony-police-probe-reasons-massacre.html#ixzz0po9zss5m
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
Read more: http://live-mailonline.anl.dmgt.net/news/article-1283684/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Derrick-Birds-son-agony-police-probe-reasons-massacre.html#ixzz0po9zss5m
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283684-09DD21A4000005DC-15_306x423.jpg Rampage: Derrick Bird killed 12 people on his shooting spree through Cumbria
Mass murderer Derrick Bird was tipped over the edge by a major tax investigation into an undeclared £60,000 which he feared would see him sent to prison, it was disclosed last night.
Increasingly desperate and drinking heavily, he became embroiled in a bitter dispute with his twin brother David who was the first of his 12 victims.
Bird, 52, killed brother David then family solicitor Kevin Commons, who he thought was colluding to cheat him out of his mother's £96,000 inheritance.
He wanted the money to clear his tax demand which exceeded £10,000 after the Inland Revenue caught him with £60,000 in undeclared and untaxed earnings in a bank account, a friend said last night.
Fellow taxi driver Mark Cooper said: 'All he said was that they had caught him with £60,000 in the bank. He said, "They have caught me with £60,000 in the bank, the tax people". He just said, "I'll go to jail".
'He just asked me if he could handle jail. He didn't want to go.'
Mr Cooper, 45, who said he had known the taxi driver for 15 years, said he was not sure where Bird had got money from, but added: 'His mother was giving him money. A couple of grand a month. She was supposed to have money.'
Consumed with jealousy and bitterness as his life collapsed around him, police believe the gun enthusiast drew up a hit list of other people against whom he held a grudge before going on the rampage across western Cumbria, leaving 12 dead.
Five victims he is thought to have deliberately targeted included taxi drivers he accused of stealing his fares and police were also investigating whether workers at Sellafield nuclear plant where Bird had been sacked as a joiner after being convicted of theft were sought out for revenge.
Last night, his dead brother's three daughters denied there had been a 'family feud' between the twins, but said their father had 'only tried to help' the taxi driver.
Key developments included:
Cumbria police face an investigation into whether their officers could have stopped Bird during his three-hour rampage
The killer had been self-harming for years in secret
He had been allowed to obtain shotgun and firearms licences despite his theft conviction
David Cameron - due to visit Cumbria today - warned against 'knee-jerk' demands for a toughening of gun laws
Doctors said Bird shot many of his 12 victims in the face
All have been identified, including the 23-year-old son of £2.3million Lottery winners
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E0215C000005DC-547_306x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E02102000005DC-440_306x423.jpg
Distraught: The family of Darren Rewcastle lay flowers at the taxi rank in Whitehaven, Cumbria where he was gunned down by Derrick Bird
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E00F45000005DC-211_634x350.jpg Victims: Mr Rewcastle's relatives also read the messages left by other residents shattered by the shootings
Family sources said yesterday that Bird was hoping to benefit from money raised by the sale of his mother Mary's home following a stroke in 2003.
Sources said David and elder brother Brian - both well off - did not want to have to hand over any of their inheritance to bail out their self-employed brother.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283857/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Tax-drove-mass-murderer-Derrick-Bird-edge.html#ixzz0pqKyVNld
it beggars belief to slaughter over a dozen people for tax worries, i don't buy it
By James Tozer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=James+Tozer), Jaya Narain (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jaya+Narain) and Paul Sims (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Paul+Sims)
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 4th June 2010
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
Read more: http://live-mailonline.anl.dmgt.net/news/article-1283684/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Derrick-Birds-son-agony-police-probe-reasons-massacre.html#ixzz0po9zss5m
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
Read more: http://live-mailonline.anl.dmgt.net/news/article-1283684/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Derrick-Birds-son-agony-police-probe-reasons-massacre.html#ixzz0po9zss5m
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283684-09DD21A4000005DC-15_306x423.jpg Rampage: Derrick Bird killed 12 people on his shooting spree through Cumbria
Mass murderer Derrick Bird was tipped over the edge by a major tax investigation into an undeclared £60,000 which he feared would see him sent to prison, it was disclosed last night.
Increasingly desperate and drinking heavily, he became embroiled in a bitter dispute with his twin brother David who was the first of his 12 victims.
Bird, 52, killed brother David then family solicitor Kevin Commons, who he thought was colluding to cheat him out of his mother's £96,000 inheritance.
He wanted the money to clear his tax demand which exceeded £10,000 after the Inland Revenue caught him with £60,000 in undeclared and untaxed earnings in a bank account, a friend said last night.
Fellow taxi driver Mark Cooper said: 'All he said was that they had caught him with £60,000 in the bank. He said, "They have caught me with £60,000 in the bank, the tax people". He just said, "I'll go to jail".
'He just asked me if he could handle jail. He didn't want to go.'
Mr Cooper, 45, who said he had known the taxi driver for 15 years, said he was not sure where Bird had got money from, but added: 'His mother was giving him money. A couple of grand a month. She was supposed to have money.'
Consumed with jealousy and bitterness as his life collapsed around him, police believe the gun enthusiast drew up a hit list of other people against whom he held a grudge before going on the rampage across western Cumbria, leaving 12 dead.
Five victims he is thought to have deliberately targeted included taxi drivers he accused of stealing his fares and police were also investigating whether workers at Sellafield nuclear plant where Bird had been sacked as a joiner after being convicted of theft were sought out for revenge.
Last night, his dead brother's three daughters denied there had been a 'family feud' between the twins, but said their father had 'only tried to help' the taxi driver.
Key developments included:
Cumbria police face an investigation into whether their officers could have stopped Bird during his three-hour rampage
The killer had been self-harming for years in secret
He had been allowed to obtain shotgun and firearms licences despite his theft conviction
David Cameron - due to visit Cumbria today - warned against 'knee-jerk' demands for a toughening of gun laws
Doctors said Bird shot many of his 12 victims in the face
All have been identified, including the 23-year-old son of £2.3million Lottery winners
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E0215C000005DC-547_306x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E02102000005DC-440_306x423.jpg
Distraught: The family of Darren Rewcastle lay flowers at the taxi rank in Whitehaven, Cumbria where he was gunned down by Derrick Bird
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/03/article-1283764-09E00F45000005DC-211_634x350.jpg Victims: Mr Rewcastle's relatives also read the messages left by other residents shattered by the shootings
Family sources said yesterday that Bird was hoping to benefit from money raised by the sale of his mother Mary's home following a stroke in 2003.
Sources said David and elder brother Brian - both well off - did not want to have to hand over any of their inheritance to bail out their self-employed brother.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283857/CUMBRIA-SHOOTINGS-Tax-drove-mass-murderer-Derrick-Bird-edge.html#ixzz0pqKyVNld
it beggars belief to slaughter over a dozen people for tax worries, i don't buy it