Page 53 - the SyI Quarterly 11

Chartered Security Professionals

argument that convinces me that the threat has in any way dissipated
Are UK Schools implementing or reduced. Although that incident led to the tightening of gun
ownership and restrictions on pistols, it does not preclude the illegal
effective Lockdown ownership of firearms that can be bought off the dark web or the use
of shotguns, knives, axes and swords etc. Although it must be said that
the ease of access to firearms is the reason for the proliferation of
procedures to deal with a spree killer attacks in the US.

It could be argued that the information and intelligence doesn’t
marauding attacker? support a sufficient risk score (you may have heard that before in the
MacPhearson report). Dunblane was 26 years ago, and we have not
had a repeat incident. Well, actually that’s not quite right. We have had
numerous incidents and a great many near misses. The spree killer has
by Robert Stenhouse CSyP MSyI become a worldwide phenomenon and I see no reason why the UK
should feel immune. We know four things about the perpetrators:

In 2017 I was teaching a lockdown procedure for a • They learn the lessons from each other and try to emulate
primary school in East Sussex. During the awareness their ‘heroes’
phase, I highlighted the deadliest school attack in • They copycat
history, the massacre at Beslan, Chechnya. • They try and better them
• They mark success in head counts!
On the 1st September 2004, 1,100 hostages were
taken and 333 people died. The Chechen warlord Let’s look at some specifics for the UK
Shamil Basayev, who took responsibility for the
planning the attack, stated ‘It only cost €8,000, we will • 8 December 1995
do this again’. Terrorist attacks are cheap, effective Philip Ambrose Lawrence, headmaster stabbed to death outside the
and focus the world’s attention immediately. At that gates of his school in London, when he went to the aid of a pupil who
time, I posed the question of what single act of was being attacked by a gang.
terrorism will bring a country to its knees? My answer,
an attack on our school children. • 8th July 1996
Horrett Irving Campbell 32 years old, the Wolverhampton machete
As we know, within a year the terrorist attack took attack occurred at St. Luke’s Church of England infants’ school. While
place at the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester the children were having an outdoor teddy bear picnic, the attacker
Arena. A direct targeted attack on the nation’s most leapt over a fence and began attacking the children and adults with a
precious asset, its children. Four years after this machete. Lisa Potts (George Medal) heroically stood her ground and
attack and 26 years since the Dunblane primary protected her class. Three children and four adults were injured in the
school massacre, my question is, are schools attack. Campbell was a schizophrenic who believed that the children
adequately prepared to cope with an armed hostile were talking about him, and that the parents of the children had given
intruder on their premises? information about him to the police. Campbell was also under the
delusion that performing this attack would help rid him of a ghost
As far as I can gather, the general consensus is, ‘Yes, which had haunted him for years.
we think it might happen but it’s unlikely’, it is not
our priority.’ In other words, it can be put down to • 28 April 2014
safety’s greatest enemy, complacency. To counter Ann Maguire was stabbed to death while teaching a Spanish lesson at
complacency, you must do two things, learn from Corpus Christi Catholic College in Halton Moor, Leeds.
the past and proactively counter it. The latter is the
reason for me writing this article. • 25th September 2015
Liam Lyburd aged 19, admitted possessing an arsenal of weapons
As mentioned earlier, the Dunblane school massacre including bombs and a semi-automatic pistol. He planned a massacre
in 1996 still resonates with me and I believe is at his former college in a case described as “chilling”. He was jailed
more relevant today than ever. I can see no logical for life with a minimum of eight years and wanted to emulate the
Columbine massacre.

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