Juliana Falcon’s intervention was crucial in preventing her son carrying out a school massacre – she was murdered because of it
The final act of Juliana Falcon’s life, in the minutes before she was shot dead by her son, potentially saved dozens of others.
Realising the unthinkable about her child, her intervention was crucial in preventing him from carrying out what could have been one of the worst mass killings ever to happen in the UK.
Triple killer who murdered family jailed for at least 49 years
It was late at night when the 48-year-old interrupted her teenage son, Nicholas Prosper, in his bedroom with a gun.
He was preparing to carry out a massacre at his old primary school the following day.
Police believe Juliana spotted the shotgun and confronted her son about what he was up to, and there was a struggle as he began attacking his mother.
Her intervention changed everything.
Giselle and Kyle Prosper (below) were both killed by their older brother. Pics: Bedfordshire Police
Prosper, 18, shot his mother dead with the firearm he had bought illegally less than 24 hours earlier.
Over the next few hours in the family’s eighth-floor flat in Luton, he also shot dead his 13-year-old sister, Giselle, and shot and repeatedly stabbed his 16-year-old brother, Kyle.
The noise of the killings alerted neighbours and meant police would be on their way, so Prosper’s plan had to be brought forward.
“My f****** mum messed it up,” he wrote down while in custody. “My mother is a f****** stupid cow.”
A plan for ‘notoriety’
Prosper has admitted killing his family
Prosper left the flat at 5.30am on 13 September last year, hours before the school would open.
He had meticulously researched school massacres, was fascinated by violence and led a dysfunctional life online. He craved notoriety.
He took with him more than 30 shotgun cartridges which, he had calculated, would enable him to kill more children than any other school attack.
When he was arrested, he was on his way to his old primary school to target the youngest children there, aged just four and five.
Prosper deceived a seller to obtain the shotgun. Pics: Bedfordshire Police
In a note he later wrote in prison, he confessed he “wanted to cause the biggest [school] massacre in the 21st century and be more famous than Sandy Hook”.
A total of 26 children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, USA in 2012. The killer there had shot dead his own mother at home before going to the school.
Prosper’s mother’s actions in Luton, disturbing his plan early, denied him that appalling place in history.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Killer ‘seemed really calm’ – neighbour
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Sam Khanna, of Bedfordshire Police, told Sky News that Prosper’s ambition “was most definitely notoriety… to be known as being responsible for the biggest school shooting on record.”
He had researched in detail every shooting school shooting across the world “within the last 15, 20 years,” he said.
“He’d done his sums, and he wanted to be responsible for the most amount [of deaths]. Killing his family was the first part of it. But then going to a school and killing numerous children, teachers, then finally himself.”
Concerns raised
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Prosper’s former school, was the intended target
Prosper was raised in Luton and had attended St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, where he planned to carry out an attack three-quarters of a mile from his home.
Growing up, teachers thought he was a quiet, introverted boy, with a small group of friends who were interested in computers.
When he went to sixth form aged 16, staff noticed he had become more withdrawn.
The school raised concerns that he could be on the autism spectrum, but he refused to see a GP or accept any help.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Prosper pretends plank of wood is a gun
DCI Khanna said “very little” was known of Prosper, and “there was certainly no Prevent referral”.
Prevent is the UK’s counter-terrorism programme designed to identify and stop young people being radicalised.
Both of Prosper’s parents “had expressed concerns to the school”, the detective said.
The school had shared those concerns, he said, “but because of his unwillingness to engage with mental health professionals, it didn’t go any further”.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist concluded the teenager shows “all the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)” but that it was undiagnosed at the time of the killings. He said Prosper has “an extreme lack of empathy with others and an extreme lack of remorse”.
Read more:
What is Prevent?
How did Prosper get a gun?
Prosper was filmed buying the firearm. Pic: Bedfordshire Police
So how was an 18-year-old able to source a shotgun? The answer is by deception.
Prosper convinced a legitimate seller, who had only previously sold to registered firearms dealers, to deliver the weapon to him.
The teenager produced a convincing but fake shotgun certificate and paid the seller £650 in cash and an extra £30 petrol money to bring the gun and 100 shotgun cartridges to Luton the day before the killings.
Bedfordshire Police investigated and concluded the seller would not face criminal charges. He had been duped by Prosper.
DCI Khanna said Prosper “went to great lengths, looking at templates, looking at prototypes, getting police force logos, signatures, and having copies of genuine certificates, so he could produce what he thought would be good enough to enable him to obtain that shotgun – even down to the printing of the paper with watermarks”.
Prosper spent a lot of time online alone in his bedroom posting troubling comments supporting sexual relationships between adults and children and expressing other extreme views.
He had also become obsessed with the Walking Dead video game, and particularly a character called Clementine who is a vulnerable young girl.
Detective Chief Inspector Sam Khanna, of Bedfordshire Police
Detectives can’t say if there is a direct link between his “avid use” of the game and the school shooting plan, but it is one aspect of a complex and unhealthy life he led online.
DCI Khanna said Prosper “certainly believed that he had some form of relationship with Clementine, albeit she’s a video game character”.
Police also found indecent images of children on Prosper’s devices.
The investigator said his online research of school massacres was persistent and extremely detailed.
“There’s a lot of talk about the dark web, but this was on the surface web and sites where… you can read manifestos of people that have done horrific acts. They shouldn’t be available to be seen.”
After his arrest, Prosper told a nurse at Bedford prison about his school massacre intentions. He had also written two detailed plans of what he intended to do at the primary school he used to attend.
“We didn’t find any evidence that he had harboured any grudges towards that particular school… it was purely around his knowledge of it,” DCI Khanna said.
After killing his family, he left home “with the right amount of cartridges to complete his plan, right down to the final detail”, he added.
“Once in prison, he has openly talked about the fact that that was his plan – to go to the school and kill children and teachers before finally killing himself.”
Prosper had chosen black and yellow clothes for the attack and as he made his way towards the school in Luton he was spotted by police officers on patrol.
They thought he was acting strangely and knew three members of the same family had been shot dead nearby.
“It’s not murder,” he repeatedly told the officers as they handcuffed him by the roadside.
Months later, he pleaded guilty shortly before he was due to stand trial.
Prosper pictured walking to the school on the morning of his planned attack. Pic: Bedfordshire Police
Remembering the victims
The dilemma of whether to make his school shooting plan public has been difficult for police and prosecutors.
It is clearly deeply upsetting for the school community and they are mindful that Prosper craved attention and publicity, but it is also about challenging this kind of extreme behaviour online.
DCI Khanna’s investigation team has examined this “deeply troubling” case with the victims at the forefront of their minds.
“The family has really told us what wonderful people they were,” he said.
Juliana, he said, was “a doting mum who did a lot of work for charity and [was] a very keen runner”.
He described Giselle as “so popular amongst friends, a bright girl with an infectious smile”, while Kyle was a “funny young man, really into his sports and again very popular at school with his friends”.
Now, DCI Khanna said, the focus should be on the victims – “and how much they’ll be missed”.
UK
Crucial evidence in Post Office scandal found in garage of retired computer expert after 30 years
A damning report into the faulty Post Office IT system that proceeded Horizon has been unearthed after nearly 30 years – and it could help overturn criminal convictions.
The document, known about by the Post Office in 1998, is described as “hugely significant” and a “fundamental piece of evidence” and was found in a garage by a retired computer expert.
Capture was a piece of accounting software, likely to have caused errors, used in more than 2,000 branches between 1992 and 1999.
It came before the infamous faulty Horizon software scandal, which saw hundreds of sub postmasters wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is the Capture scandal?
The ‘lost long’ Capture documents were discovered in a garage by a retired computer expert who came forward after a Sky News report into the case of Patricia Owen, a convicted sub postmistress who used the software.
Adrian Montagu was supposed to be a key witness for Pat’s defence at her trial in 1998 but her family always believed he had never turned up, despite his computer “just sitting there” in court.
Mr Montagu, however, insists he did attend.
He describes being in the courtroom and adds that “at some point into the trial” he was stood down by the barrister for Mrs Owen with “no reason” given.
Adrian Montagu was supposed to be a key witness for Pat’s defence
Sky News has seen contemporaneous notes proving Mr Montagu did go to Canterbury Crown Court for the first one or two days of the trial in June 1998.
“I went to the court and I set up a computer with a big old screen,” he says.
“I remember being there, I remember the judge introducing everybody very properly…but the barrister in question for the defence, he went along and said ‘I am not going to need you so you don’t need to be here any more’.
“I wasn’t asked back.”
The ‘lost long’ Capture documents were discovered in a garage
Sky News has reached out to the barrister in Pat Owen’s case who said he had no recollection of it.
‘An accident waiting to happen’
The report, commissioned by the defence and written by Adrian Montagu and his colleague, describes Capture as “an accident waiting to happen”, and “totally discredited”.
It concludes that “reasonable doubt exists as to whether any criminal offence has taken place”.
It also states that the software “is quite capable of producing absurd gibberish”, and describes “several insidious faults…which would not be necessarily apparent to the user”.
All of which produced “arithmetical or accounting errors”.
Sky News has also seen documents suggesting the jury in Pat Owen’s case may never have seen the report.
What is clear is that they did not hear evidence from its author including his planned “demonstration” of how Capture could produce accounting errors.
But flaws were found within it
Pat Owen was convicted of stealing from her Post Office branch in 1998 and given a suspended prison sentence.
Her family describe how it “wrecked” her life, contributing towards her ill health, and she died in 2003 before the wider Post Office scandal came to light.
Her daughter Juliet said her mother fought with “everything she could”.
“To know that in the background there was Adrian with this (report) that would have changed everything, not just for mum but for every Capture victim after that, I think is shocking and really upsetting – really, really upsetting.”
Pat died before the contents of the report came to light
The report itself was served on the Post Office lawyers – who continued to prosecute sub postmasters in the months and years after Pat Owen’s trial.
‘My blood is boiling’
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘They knew software was faulty’
Steve Marston, who used the Capture software in his branch, was one of them – he was convicted of stealing nearly £80,000 in September 1998.
His prosecution took place four months after the Capture report had been served on the Post Office.
Steve says he was persuaded to plead guilty with the “threat of jail” hanging over him and received a suspended sentence.
He describes the discovery of the report as “incredible” and says his “blood is boiling” and he feels “betrayed”.
“So they knew that the software was faulty?,” he says. “It’s in black and white isn’t it? And yet they still pressed on doing what they did.
“They used Capture evidence … as the evidence to get me to plead guilty to avoid jail.
“They kept telling us it was safe…They knew the software should never have been used in 1998, didn’t they?”
Steve says his family’s lives were destroyed and the knowledge of this report could have “changed everything”.
He says he would have fought the case “instead of giving in”.
“How dare they. And no doubt I certainly wasn’t the last one…And yet they knew they were convicting people with faulty software, faulty computers.”
Steve’s prosecution took place four months after the Capture report had been served on the Post Office
The report is now with the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body investigating potential miscarriages of justice, which is currently looking into 28 Capture cases.
A fundamental piece of evidence
Neil Hudgell, the lawyer representing more than 100 victims, describes the report as “hugely significant”, “seismic” and a “fundamental piece of evidence”.
“I’m as confident as I can be that this is a good day for families like Steve Marston and Mrs Owen’s family,” he says.
“I think (the documents) could be very pivotal in delivering the exoneration that they very badly deserve.”
He also added that “there’s absolutely no doubt” that the “entire contents” of the “damning” report “was under the noses of the Post Office at a very early stage”.
Pat Owen
He describes it as a “massive missed opportunity” and “early red flag” for the Post Office which went on to prosecute hundreds who used Horizon in the years that followed.
Read more from Sky News:
Sir Alan Bates attacks ‘kangaroo court’ Post Office scheme
Widow received compensation letter days after his death
“It is a continuation of a theme that obviously has rolled out over the subsequent 20 plus years in relation to Horizon,” he says.
“…if this had seen the light of day in its proper sense, and poor Mrs Owen had not been convicted, the domino effect of what followed may not have happened.”
What the Post Office said
Sky News approached the former Chief Executive of the Post Office during the Capture years, John Roberts, who said: “I can’t recall any discussion at my level, or that of the board, about Capture at any time while I was CEO.”
A statement from the Post Office said: “We have been very concerned about the reported problems relating to the use of the Capture software and are sincerely sorry for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters.
“We are determined that past wrongs are put right and are continuing to support the government’s work and fully co-operating with the Criminal Cases Review Commission as it investigates several cases which may be Capture related.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Postmasters including Patricia Owen endured immeasurable suffering, and we continue to listen to those who have been sharing their stories on the Capture system.
“Government officials met with postmasters recently as part of our commitment to develop an effective and fair redress process for those affected by Capture, and we will continue to keep them updated.”
UK
Why I’m praying assisted dying bill passes major vote – even though it’s not going to happen in my lifetime
On Friday, the social fabric of England and Wales might be changed forever.
MPs are set to vote on the assisted dying bill and supporters are confident that they have the numbers to win.
But the hugely controversial legislation polarises opinion. Communities remain divided, and medical colleagues can’t agree.
Three royal colleges have withdrawn support for the bill in its current form. They want more time to be given for further scrutiny of the legislation.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How will the assisted dying bill work?
Frank Sutton does not have time. When we went to Frank’s home in East Dulwich, London, last November to watch the vote unfold she already had terminal liver disease and cancer.
As the vote was passed with a majority of 55, Frank broke down in tears and said: “Finally, I can die in peace.”
Frank is unlikely to live long enough to see assisted dying introduced in England and Wales. If the legislation passes, it will be introduced in four years.
Frank now suffers from diabetes and fibromyalgia.
She said: “On top of everything I’ve got, to start developing more comorbidities, I have a massive thought in my head, which I live with every day, which is, is my body, am I on the road to the end, you know, is my body just giving up?
“I mean, I was taking morphine anyway for pain, but now I’m living on morphine, and that’s not a life that you want.”
But even as MPs prepare to vote, many important questions remain over who will take responsibility for determining a patient’s mental capacity and their prognosis. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said it was approaching Friday “with trepidation”.
Read more:
Psychiatrists criticise bill
Palpable anger as both sides of debate gather
Dr Annabel Price, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead on assisted dying
Dr Annabel Price, the RCPsych’s lead on assisted dying, told Sky News: “If this bill as it stands proceeds through the rest of the parliamentary process, we as psychiatrists are left in a situation where there are so many unknowns about what is expected of us, about what patients can expect and about the safety of the process.
“We will continue to engage and there may be opportunities for reconsideration at further points in the bill. But yes, I approach this professionally with trepidation.”
The Royal College of GPs says the assisted dying process should happen outside of general practice.
Dr Susi Caesar is in favour of the bill being passed and feels it is okay for the medical community to be so divided on the issue.
She said: “I think people have the right to make their own choices and absolutely I would not want to see anybody forced into being part of this process who didn’t. Our current system is broken and this law would go a long way towards fixing it, at least for a certain group of people.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Psychiatrists raise assisted dying concerns
But the Royal Colleges of Physicians (RCP) also has reservations about the bill in its current form.
It says it would be hard for a panel of experts who have no connection to a patient requesting an assisted death to determine if the person is being coerced or has mental capacity.
Dr John Dean, clinical vice president at the RCP has concerns, saying: “Currently decisions clearly are made by patients but agreed by single doctors and then the social worker and psychiatrists are not meeting the patient and those that have been caring for them.
“This has to be done in keeping with modern clinical practice which is complex decisions made with patients and families by teams.”
But for patients like Frank, these concerns have not changed her mind.
She said: “I’m praying for Friday that it still goes through because, like I said, it’s not going to happen in my lifetime, but the thought that people like me who still try to look nice, who still tried to have a life and everything, that they can just have some peace of mind and they can have a weight lifted off their shoulders knowing that they’re going to be able to do it peacefully with their family.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike