Farmer who murdered his partner and her daughter was handed back shotguns by the police months before the killings so he could protect his chickens from foxes
- Farmer John Lowe, 84, had his shotguns seized by Surrey police in 2014
- But licensing officers gave them back when he complained he lost 80 hens
- Seven months later he murdered Christine Lee, 66 and her daughter Lucy, 40
- Now it has been decided that two police officers will not be prosecuted
Two police officers will not be prosecuted for handing a dangerous farmer his guns before he used them to murder his partner and her daughter.
John Lowe, 84, had his shotguns seized by Surrey police in 2014 after his stepdaughter Stacy Banner, 42, told them he had threatened to kill her.
But two licensing officers gave them back when he complained he lost 80 hens because he wasn't able to defend them from hungry foxes.
Couple: Lowe (right) will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his partner Christine Lee (left) and her daughter
Murdered: John Lowe's partner's daughter Lucy Lee, 40, standing in her kitchen
Seven months later he murdered Christine Lee, 66, her daughter Lucy, 40, and four dogs in a bloody rampage at his ramshackle stud farm near Farnham.
Now, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ruled after investigation that the officers were not criminally negligent.
A friend of the victims told The Mirror: 'We are dumbfounded by the decision.
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'Police knew about Lowe and his threats to kill, yet decided the lives of chickens were more important than the lives of people.'
Speaking outside Guildford Crown Court after he was convicted of double murder, Mrs Banner said her violent step-father should never have been allowed to have a firearm.
'John Lowe pulled the trigger but it was the Surrey Police who put the gun in his hands.'
Victim: Lowe said he had not meant to shoot Ms Lee, 66, but was found guilty of her murder
Farm: Lowe shot the two women at his farm in Tilford, near Farnham, Surrey (pictured), on February 23, 2014
She said her sister and mother did not stand a chance when they were 'brutally and deliberately murdered' at close range with a shotgun.
'The shotgun was one of seven that had been returned to him by the police only months before he used it kill,' she added.
Dog breeder: John Lowe, 82, was been found guilty of murdering his partner and stepdaughter
'He held a shotgun licence despite the police being repeatedly warned by me and others about the danger he posed to society, allowing him to kill and kill again. Surrey Police should not be allowed to escape their responsibility for these deaths.'
The double murder took place on February 23 2014 off a quiet country lane in prime stockbroker belt, where homes fetch £1million.
Mrs Banner said she had repeatedly told police about the danger Lowe posed to her family, who were caring for the ageing pensioner.
She said Lowe had attempted to hire a hitman in 1997, asking a registered police informant to find someone to kill a previous partner who later died of cancer.
In 2013 he threatened Mrs Banner when he brandished a gun as she was washing up in his kitchen.
'He said he was going to blow my head off, so I ran – and I ran for my life,' she said.
Police confirmed they removed Lowe's guns from his farm in March 2013 after she reported the threats.
But his weapons – including the shotgun used in the murders – were then returned to him in July.
MY MOTHER'S JUST BEEN SHOT... I'M RUNNING FOR MY LIFE
Frantic 999 call: Lucy Lee
The step-daughter of double murderer John Lowe made a desperate 999 call minutes before she was gunned down.
After witnessing her mother's brutal death at the hands of the killer, Lucy Lee says: 'My mother has just been shot. I am running for my life.'
Jurors at Guildford Crown Court were played a harrowing recording of the woman begging for police to be sent to their Surrey home, Keepers Cottage Stud, near Farnham in Hampshire.
She said: 'Right, my mother's just been shot. Keepers Cottage Stud. My mother's just been shot. Keepers Cottage Stud. Keepers Cottage Stud.
'I need the police to come to Keepers Cottage Stud. GU10 2AZ.' The clearly terrified woman is then heard breathlessly shouting to the operator: 'I'm running for my life. He shot my mum. John Lowe.'
Miss Lee then decided to return to the dilapidated farmhouse where her mother had been slain, demanding that police send an officer who knew Lowe – DS Rafferty.
She is heard saying: 'I'm going to go back to him, bye.'
The operator responded: 'All right, is the patient breathing?
'Has someone been shot, did you say?'
Miss Lee then ended the 20-second call by saying: 'Yes, Get Rafferty. I'm nearly outside the house and I fear he's [Lowe's] going to shoot me. I don't know if I'm going to be alive if I go back in there.
'He shot my mum. Bye.' Following the frantic 999 call, Miss Lee's body was found a short time later by armed police officers on the steps leading out of the farmhouse.
She had been blasted in the chest and the back of the head by Lowe.
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