In bizarre news coming out of Scotland Yard this afternoon, it has emerged that a track by Quietus writer John Robb’s group The Membranes was one of those inserted into evidence given by a police officer involved in the shooting of barrister Mark Saunders.
The officer apparently inserted song titles in his evidence at the inquest into Saunder’s death. These included ‘Fuck My Old Boots’ by The Membranes, alongside ‘Enough is Enough’ (Donna Summer), ‘Point of No Return’ (Buzzcocks), ‘Line of Fire’ (Journey), ‘Quiet Moments’ (Chris de Burgh), and ‘Kicking Myself’ (As Tall As Lions). The others could all conceivably have been given in evidence at a shooting enquiry – how the Membranes one fitted is anyone’s guess.
The transcript of the officer’s evidence runs as follows, reports The Guardian. The officer had said "it’s the bad guy who pulls the trigger and the good guy always gets there first" adding that he situation had gone "past the point of no return".
"As I play it back in my mind, which is not something I do all the time, but in quiet moments I think about and I feel: ‘is there any other way?’. But every time I play it back in my mind it’s the same outcome – unfortunately Mr Saunders gets shot because of his actions.
"I switched the light on, he turned towards me and I thought: ‘Fuck my old boots, I’ve got a gun trained on me …
"As he brings the gun down his finger could be on the trigger. Action will always beat reactions. We have to decide where that point is, and for me as he was bringing it down I thought, ‘No. Enough is enough.’"
"I would be buggered if I was going to turn my back on a guy with a shotgun. I’ve got people protecting me, or I’m supposed to, but there’s nothing like protecting yourself – self-preservation."
