Police put gun in puppy farm killer’s hands say family

Dog breeder John Lowe, 82, was found guilty at Guildford Crown Court today of murdering his partner and her daughter at his puppy farm.

He blasted 66-year-old Christine Lee and her daughter Lucy Lee, 40, with a shotgun he normally used for killing rats at his property near Farnham, Surrey, in February.

Christine’s daughter, Stacy Banner, said: “The shotgun was one of seven that had been returned to him by the police only months before he used it to kill.”

She added: “John Lowe pulled the trigger but it was the Surrey Police who put the gun in his hands.”

Surrey Police apologised to the family after Lowe’s shotguns were returned to him in July last year following their confiscation the previous March.

The force said two reports indicated the decision was “flawed” and vowed to “co-operate fully” with an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation.

Speaking outside court, Mrs Banner said Lowe “brutally and deliberately murdered my mum and my sister by shooting each of them at close range with a shotgun - they did not stand a chance”.

She added: “My life stopped when their lives ended on 23rd February this year. It will never be the same for me or my children who have lost their aunt and Nanny Burger King.”

She also called for the way gun licensing decisions are made to be changed.

She said: “Licensing cannot be left entirely up to the police.

“There needs to be thorough and regular multi-agency assessments for would be gun-holders.

“And the cost of a shotgun licence needs to be significantly increased.”

Surrey Police said three of its employees are being investigated for gross misconduct over the decision to return Lowe’s guns before the shooting.

Officers seized a shotgun licence and a number of shotguns belonging to Lowe in March last year but returned them four months later after an assessment.

It is also reviewing all cases where guns have been removed and then returned to people in the last three years.

In a statement, it said: “We commissioned two independent reports by firearms licensing experts from Hampshire Constabulary and North Yorkshire Police. The initial findings from both reports indicate the decision was flawed and did not meet national standards.

“Whilst the full investigation into this matter remains ongoing, in light of these early findings we have spoken with members of Christine and Lucy Lee’s family to apologise for this.

“The safety of the public is our primary concern and we have already taken steps to ensure our firearms licensing policy and procedures are in line with national best practice.

“We are also instigating the recommendations from both reports and reviewing all cases where licences and firearms have been removed and returned to their holders in the last three years.”

Lowe, who suffers severe arthritis in his hands, lived at the farm for 45 years and the court heard he had been handling shotguns since the age of seven.

He met Christine Lee 25 years ago when she came to buy a horse for one of her daughters.

They later started a relationship despite him living at the stud with his long-term partner Susan Wilson. After Ms Wilson died from cancer in March 2013, he moved Christine in, with Lucy later joining them.

On February 23 this year, armed police arrived at the farm in the Surrey stockbroker belt and found Christine and Lucy dead.

The court heard that Lowe told officers the women “treated me like shit”, accusing them of starving him and trying to put him in a home so they could take his land.

He told one officer: “They had to be put down. There was nothing else I could do. I have had terrible problems with Christine. They have not let me eat.”

It was only later that he began to tell police that their death had been accidental.

He claimed that Christine died after they struggled over his shotgun when he announced he was going to put down some of their dogs. He then claimed Lucy died after the gun accidentally went off twice.

IPCC Commissioner Jennifer Izekor said: “Two women have tragically lost their lives, and their family and friends deserve to know the circumstances in which the guns were returned to Mr Lowe.

“It also is in the interests of the wider public that Surrey Police’s decision-making in these circumstances is independently scrutinised.”

Lowe was convicted of Christine’s murder on an 11 to one majority today after the jury had deliberated for more than 20 hours.

He was convicted of Lucy’s murder and a firearm offence on Monday, both by a majority of 10 to two, but this could not be reported until today’s verdict for legal reasons.