Forensic examination showed the bullet’s “energy” was depleted and the round was “tumbling” as it hit the police officer. The tumbling effect and the “terminal velocity” are consistent with the use of silencers. Significantly, these effects are even more pronounced following the removal of part of the bullet’s propellant, creating a “low velocity” and, equally importantly, a less audible discharge.
The latter is a known technique of British SAS snipers. The damage caused by a bullet doctored in this way is horrific. The “tumbling” bullet tears through the body, ripping tissue and vital organs beyond repair. Whoever shot Yvonne Fletcher was aware it was a death shot in every sense.
The automatic weapon used inside the Libyan Bureau - a 9 millimetre Sterling sub-machine gun - was not silenced. The sharp sounds of it’s eleven rapid-fire rounds being discharged were caught on BBC videotape and analysed by an audio expert for the Dispatches team.
An additional videotape was also analysed. It proved to be critically important. Taken by an amateur, the film caught the sound of a “duller” gunshot two seconds after the Libyan gunman ceased firing. The evidence was irrefutable - a twelfth bullet had been fired. What started off as a conspiracy theory in Australia, was fast becoming a conspiracy fact in London.
