Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Chasing the Cumbrian Killer (2010x16)

Air date: Jun 21, 2010

On Wednesday 2 June 2010, just after 11am, news began to emerge of the largest gun massacre in Britain for 14 years. Whitehaven, a small fishing port on the Cumbrian coast, joined Hungerford and Dunblane as places synonymous with sudden and inexplicable mass murder. Fifty-two-year-old Derrick Bird, a local taxi driver, divorced with two grown-up sons, had recently become a grandfather. Early in the morning, armed with a rifle and shotgun, Bird embarked on a killing spree that would last until the afternoon and result in 12 dead, 11 injured and his own suicide. This documentary covers the days leading up to what police describe as 'a 45-mile rampage across West Cumbria', the details of what happened on June 2, and the aftermath.