The quiet of the small South Oxfordshire village of Henley was
ripped apart this week as a father started shooting members of
his family at a Sunday afternoon barbecue. Stuart Horgan, a 39-year-old ex soldier, has been charged with
the double murder of his wife, Vicky Horgan, 27, and her sister
Emma Walton, 25, who both died from their gunshot wounds. Their
mother Jacqueline is still critically ill in hospital. The
murders were carried out in front of Hogan’s young daughters
Jade, 6, and Bobbie-Jayne, 3. Hogan will appear in Oxford Crown
Court on 17 June. Mrs Horgan had married Stuart Horgan in 1999 but they were
separated the following year after a series of domestic
incidents. On Sunday afternoon she arranged a barbecue in the
garden. It is not clear if Stuart Horgan was invited. He was
drinking in a local pub and spoke to his wife on the phone for an
hour. A short while later a man appeared, carrying a gun. The women ran inside the small council flat. The gunman
followed them inside and opened fire, shooting Mrs Horgan in the
head and the other two in their upper bodies. The attacker then
fled. However, local people have criticised Thames Valley Police for
not allowing paramedics to enter the house for an hour after the
shooting. Mr Gibson, a neighbour, ran from his house next door,
alerted by the shots. After finding the injured women he dialled
999. He told reporters: “Vicky took her last breath as we
tried to comfort her. There was no ambulance and no police
officer with us, despite my repeated reassurances to officers
that the gunman had long since fled. I think there is a very real
chance that Vicky and Emma could have been saved if the
paramedics had been allowed to the scene.” South Oxfordshire Area Commander Superintendent Jill Simpson
told Cherwell that the paramedics had to be held back in order to
assess the “level of danger”. She said, “Firearms
operations demand a calculated response in order to safeguard
members of the public, officers and other emergency service
personnel at the scene.”ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004
Massacre at Barbecue
