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Police apologise over lack of escort
THAMES Valley Police has said sorry after failing to provide escorts for the hearses carrying dead servicemen that travel through Oxfordshire.
The apology came after a former city policeman said that failing to offer a cavalcade had made him "ashamed" to have represented the force.
Chief Constable Sara Thornton admitted processions carrying bodies from RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire, to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, for post-mortem examinations, were caught up in heavy Oxfordshire traffic.
Wiltshire Police routinely provide a full escort - typically consisting of three motorcycle outriders and two patrol cars - to all military corteges.
In the latest incident, it emerged that the Wiltshire Police escort had to peel off at the Oxfordshire border, where the Thames Valley Police area begins. Once in Oxfordshire, the hearses were given no protection by police.
And Thames Valley Police admitted that hearses carrying servicemen killed aboard had travelled unaccompanied in the county for a year - but said the policy would change once new police motorcycles rolled into operation in June.
As the picture above shows, hearses containing two Marines - John Thornton, 22, and David Marsh, 23 - who were killed by an explosion in Afghanistan, were held up in Oxford ring-road traffic earlier this month.
In comparison, the process of repatriating troops' bodies in Canada features closed highways and the route is often lined with mourners.
Former Oxford policeman David Youd, 72, said: "I am ashamed to have been in the Thames Valley force. I have spoken to a few ex-colleagues who feel exactly the same. I was absolutely appalled by what has been happening and just could not believe it."
Wiltshire Police said it did not know how many times it had escorted a military cortege to the Oxfordshire border.
Thames Valley Chief Constable Sara Thornton said: "It is important that the sacrifice made by young men and women in our armed forces is properly recognised by the whole community. The police have a part to play in that act of respect.
"At the beginning of the action in Iraq and Afghanistan, our servicemen and women were brought to RAF Brize Norton and were escorted by Thames Valley Police motorcyclists to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
"A year ago this changed to RAF Lyneham, and Wiltshire Constabulary took over initial responsibility for escort. Unfortunately, this coincided with the withdrawal of all our motorcycles, and so Thames Valley Police was unable to continue escort duties.
"We are, however, about to take delivery of a new fleet of motorcycles and they will be operational from the second week of June. Thames Valley Police will then recommence the escort to facilitate movement through traffic.
"I apologise for any distress caused by the photographs of military hearses caught in heavy traffic on the congested roads of Oxford."
1:42pm Wednesday 16th April 2008
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