A Libyan man, said to be close to the country’s former leader Colonel Gaddafi, was “instrumental” in orchestrating the shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher, a court has heard.
PC Fletcher, 25, was killed outside the Libyan Embassy on 17 April 1984 during a protest by anti-Gaddafi activists.
A civil case has been brought by her former friend and colleague John Murray against Salah Ibrahim Mabrouk.
The court heard the shooting plan came from “way up the hierarchy” in Libya.
Mr Mabrouk was one of the key figures in a “revolutionary committee” that had taken over the Libyan Embassy on Gaddafi’s orders just before the shooting, leading it to be renamed the Libyan People’s Bureau, the court was told.
Gaddafi took power in Libya in 1969 but was driving the country in an increasingly radical direction and targeting his enemies abroad, including the UK.
On 17 April, two Sterling sub-machine guns were used to fire on anti-Gaddafi protesters outside the building from a first floor window, killing PC Fletcher and injuring others.
