Gunman ‘sorry’ for killing policeman

Peter Reeve, 64, made the admission before taking his own life in a churchyard about 40 miles away from where he had gunned down Pc Ian Dibell the day before, according to a Sunday newspaper.

Gardener David Colyer, 76, said he was just six feet from Reeve when the fugitive shot himself in the head with a revolver, calling 999 afterwards.

“He blurted out, ‘I’m Peter Reeve. I’m the man who shot the police constable in Clacton’,” he added.

“I realised I was standing before a killer. The man hardly paused for breath then said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry I shot the police officer’.

“He looked me in the eye. His voice wasn’t trembling, he was calm, he was clearly trying to be sincere.”

A huge police manhunt for Reeve was launched after Pc Dibell was shot dead in the seaside town of Clacton, Essex, last Monday.

Pc Dibell, 41, was off duty when he intervened in a dispute between Trevor Marshall, Mr Marshall’s girlfriend and Reeve.

Pc Dibell was shot dead, while Mr Marshall, 48, escaped with leg injuries and his girlfriend survived unscathed.

Reeve disappeared after the shooting and police launched a manhunt that lasted almost 17 hours.

His body was discovered near All Saints’ Church in rural Writtle last Tuesday. He had dumped his car near the murder scene the previous day.

The Essex coroner’s office confirmed on Friday that he had been seen shooting himself.

Reeve, reported to be a retired bus mechanic who was largely unknown to the police and did not have a firearms licence, is understood to have had several family members living near the church where he was found and may have had a relative buried there.