Chasing the Cumbrian Killer

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.

As well as tracing Derrick Bird's steps from the moment he woke up to the moment he turned his weapon on himself, the film includes key interviews with eye-witnesses, survivors and police.

The people who defended themselves and helped the injured, and the officers and ordinary people who set about pursuing the killer, paint a real picture of what it was like to be thrown into an unprecedented situation, and how each of their chases played out in this man hunt. Bird's friends also speak about their experiences and describe the man they had no idea would ever become a cold-blooded killer.

Barrie Moss came face-to-face with Derrick Bird before he sped off, having just shot Susan Hughes, a mother-of-two, who was carrying home the weekly groceries. 'The name of Whitehaven is now forever ruined,' Mr Moss tells the programme. 'If you talk about Whitehaven, it's now going to be with Columbine, Dunblane, Hungerford; it's never going to be: 'It's a lovely place to come and see'. And this guy has done that to all these people. He has changed everyone's lives here.'

The programme investigates what could have driven this seemingly quiet, unassuming man to suddenly inflict carnage and violence on his peaceful community in the days, and possibly years, leading up to the murders.