New clues in police killer hunt

Ian Broadhurst was shot dead while making an arrest

A man who killed one policeman and shot at two others spoke with a Canadian accent and had an interest in horseracing, police have revealed.

Pc Ian Broadhurst, 34, was shot dead on Boxing Day in Leeds while his colleague Pc Neil Roper, 45, was badly injured and is recovering in hospital.

The shooting happened after Pcs Broadhurst and Roper stopped a stolen BMW car in Dib Lane in the Oakwood area of the city.

Pc Roper has told police from his hospital bed that the killer was sitting in the driver's seat of the stolen car reading the Racing Post when he was first approached.

A form guide and a copy of the Yorkshire Evening Post dated 26 December were also found in the car.

The car was parked close to a William Hill bookmakers.

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Detective Superintendent Chris Gregg, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: "We are considering the possibility that he could have been trying to pick his winners before going into the betting office.

"He appears to have an interest in racing or betting."

He is described as 5 ft 10 in, stocky and athletic, with olive or tanned skin, and dark hair, which was swept back and possibly shaved at the sides.

Det Supt Gregg also gave a more detailed account of the shooting.

Precise shooter

Pc Roper, from Wakefield and married with two children, was in the process of handcuffing the man when he opened fire.

Police believe Pc Broadhurst, who was married, was struck by the first shot.

The stolen BMW the gunman was in had false number plates

Pc Roper and 26-year-old Pc James Banks, a beat officer who had joined his colleagues, turned and ran along nearby Grange Park Avenue, where five further shots were fired.

Pc Roper was hit twice while Pc Banks escaped injury despite bullets shattering his police radio and hitting his baton clip.

"This man fired a number of shots, each with some precision," said Mr Gregg.

"It is possible he has some experience with firearms."

He said the suspect had spoken with an American or Canadian accent, which could be genuine or assumed, when being questioned by officers in their police car just before the shooting.

An audio tape from the police car reveals that the man was asked where he was born and answered: "Canada".

High profile police deaths 1984 - Pc Yvonne Fletcher shot dead outside Libyan Embassy 1985 - Pc Keith Blakelock killed in Broadwater Farm riots 1992 - Special Constable Glen Goodman killed by IRA near Tadcaster 1993 - Pc Patrick Dunne shot dead investigating a shooting in Clapham, London 1995 - Trainee Pc Philip Walters shot investigating a domestic incident in Ilford, east London 1997 - Pc Nina Mackay knifed by paranoid schizophrenic in London 2000 - Pc John Odell hit by a car in Margate, Kent 2003 - Det Con Stephen Oake stabbed to death in Special Branch raid in Manchester

Asked how long he had been in Leeds, he replied: "for a while" and when it was pointed out that his car was a stolen vehicle, he said he did not steal it.

The BMW had the false registration plate V948 FGJ and police have spoken to two people who had possession of the car in March in Sheffield, who claim to have bought it legitimately.

The gunman escaped in a green Rover 600 car after threatening the owners.

It was found abandoned in nearby Springwood Road just after midnight on Saturday.

Rewards totalling £25,000 have been offered to find Pc Broadhurst's killer.

Norman Brennan, director of Protect the Protectors, said: "This indiscriminate murder yet again begs the question, when do we fully arm the British police service?"