Proud dad ... Peter carries a young
Sam in cherished family photo
By NEIL SYSON
and BRIAN FLYNN
THIS is tragic hero Peter Woodhams ? the dad shot dead after confronting a gang of young thugs.
He playfully hoists his son Sam on his shoulders in a touching photo from their family album.
But last night shocked toddler Sam, three, was plaintively pleading: ?Where is my Daddy??
Sam and his mum Jane Bowden watched in horror as Peter, 22, bled to death in front of them after being blasted in the chest.
Peter?s distraught fianc?e Jane, 23, said: ?Sam kept asking at the hospital, ?Is he all right??
?I had to tell him, ?He is in heaven with his Nana?. He keeps saying, ?Where is my Daddy??.
?Because of the scum around here, he no longer has a daddy.?
It emerged last night that TV satellite engineer Peter was stabbed in the neck in January by youngsters aged TEN to 18 ? believed to be from the group who shot him.
But Jane said police failed even to take a statement ? despite the shocked couple phoning officers every day for five weeks.
Since then Peter and Jane had suffered vile abuse ? including shouted taunts, stone-throwing, obscene hand gestures and fingers being drawn across throats.
Peter finally snapped on Monday evening when he was again taunted by the gloating mob as he drove past local shops.
He parked at his home, threw his wallet and keys down and told Jane: ?They?ve started again.?
Then he dashed out of his house and was shot at the entrance to his cul-de-sac ? but managed to stagger 50 yards to the front door.
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Tragedy ... Peter, Jane and Sam
Classroom assistant Jane said in Canning Town, East London:
I thought I heard a gun and went to the door with Sam in my arms. Pete was staggering, covered in blood. I saw he had been shot and someone running off.
He turned to me and walked a few steps. Then he just collapsed into some bushes and I started screaming. He managed to drag himself up and walk to the front door and then he fell on his front.
He?d been shot in the chest and a bullet had gone through his hand as he?d tried to protect himself.
His top was pulled up, I could see the bullet mark. Peter was still conscious and talking to me.
He kept trying to get to his knees and was saying he couldn?t breathe. But I thought he was going to be all right because the wound didn?t appear to be near his heart ? although it was.
I didn?t even have a chance to say goodbye. An hour before he went we were kissing and cuddling. It has shattered me.
Neighbour Jemma Harrington, 36, told how people gathered round dying Peter, urging him to hold on as he lay face-down on the grass.
She said: ?There was blood coming out of his mouth. He was trying to stand, but was struggling and didn?t have the strength.
?Everyone was screaming, and his girlfriend was shouting, ?Call the police?.?
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Farewell, Dad ... flowers from son Sam
Standing on the spot where her fianc? lay dying, Jane went on: ?Peter was a brilliant dad and Sam idolised him. He was a grafter. He worked so hard to give everything to me and my son.
?We were a happy little family and now it?s all gone. We were going on holiday to Devon on Saturday. We were planning to get married and have more kids. Now that has all been taken away.?
Peter had first confronted the yobs on January 21.
A gang of a couple of dozen youths threw a stone at his new Ford Focus when he parked at nearby shops.
Jane recalled: ?They wrestled him to the ground and one said, ?Hold him down.? Three held him while one slashed his face and stabbed him in the neck.
?They knew what they were doing ? they tried to kill him.
?The blade was millimetres from his jugular vein and he needed emergency surgery. We phoned police every day for five weeks and they never even took a statement.
?The gang knew they?d got away with it. They thought they were untouchable. Peter was traumatised but determined not to let them win.
?I was worried for his safety. We were being terrorised. They would smirk and laugh at me. Pete tried not to let it bother him but wanted to protect me and Sam.?
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Grief ... Peter's girlfriend Jane yesterday
Jane had been with Peter, from the New Addington area of South London, for five years.
Family and friends left flowers on the spot where he collapsed yesterday. Jane sobbed as she read out the messages on them.
Her dad John Bowden, 52, had dashed to the hospital ? but learned Peter was dead on arrival.
John said: ?When they stabbed him in January he staggered 150 yards and collapsed in the same place where he was shot. The kids involved are hanging around here all the time. They?re running wild. They swagger around, stealing from shops and mugging people.
?Peter was a brave lad in standing up to them.?
Peter?s father, also called Peter, slammed cops and prosecutors for not caging the youths involved in the first attack.
Peter, of Crystal Palace, South London, said: ?Nothing was done. He was actually told, ?You should not have got out of the car?.
?I am very proud of him. He stood up to these people. You don?t stand by and watch your family be persecuted by scum.?
Police are appealing for witnesses. An urgent investigation has been launched into claims the stabbing was not investigated properly.
Senior Scotland Yard officer Commander Rod Jarman said last night: ?We will establish and deal with any possible failings in the previous investigation and make sure these matters are dealt with.
?I want to reinforce my apologies for any hurt that may have been caused to the family and state again our intention to investigate what happened.?
A 14-year-old has been arrested in connection with the murder and released on bail.
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I can't believe they didn't do a thing when this guy was stabbed. It should have been obvious it was a sign of further things to come from the scumbags that did it.
I'd spit in Scotland Yard officer Commander Rod Jarman's face with him saying ?We will establish and deal with any possible failings in the previous investigation and make sure these matters are dealt with.
?I want to reinforce my apologies for any hurt that may have been caused to the family and state again our intention to investigate what happened.?
His apologies don't cut it and because they're a lazy bunch of pricks, this man died and nothing they say or do now can bring him back. I hope it weighs on their minds for a long time to come but I'm sure it won't since they already released that lil prick on bail. If someone is suspected of this type of crime, bail shouldn't even come into the equation.
Scotland yard are a bloody disgrace!
