By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 09:18, Saturday, 19 June 2010

The fiancee of Cumbrian murder victim Jamie Clark saw and heard gunman Derrick’s Bird’s killing spree.

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Carlisle student Lianne Jarman heard the shot that killed Susan Hughes in Egremont and then saw her body under a blanket.

She had been bundled into a cafe by a woman police officer and was trying to call her estate agent boyfriend Jamie when Kenneth Fishburn was also killed in the village on June 2.

A little over half-an-hour later 23-year-old Jamie, who she was due to marry in 2012, was to be youngest victim of the serial killer.

He was in Seascale, on his way back from a property viewing, when 52-year-old Bird opened fire on him in a random attack. It is thought he may have parked alongside the A5083 to speak on his mobile phone when Bird opened fire.

Lianne, 21, was speaking before Jamie’s funeral at Stopsley Crematorium in Luton, Beds.

The teaching student, from Carlisle, was working as a summer temp for Belvoir, the lettings firm that had employed Jamie at their Cockermouth office for the past two years on the day Bird began his 45-mile killing spree.

She said: “I heard a bang and thought it was a car back-firing. I did not know it was a gunshot at the time. I was a bit concerned when I saw someone lying on the floor and I couldn’t see the face. I thought there had been an accident.

“I drove into the Main Street to get some lunch and got out of my car. Then a police officer got out of her car and pushed me into a cafe and locked me in.”

It was then that the taxi driver killed his next victim in Egremont, Kenneth Fishburn.

Lianne, who had been with Jamie for four-and-a-half years, said: “I knew where Jamie was and tried to phone him, but the signal was atrocious. Everyone was trying to phone and nobody could get through. I thought he would be okay. We didn’t know Bird was heading that way.”

Lianne, who is training to teach junior school children, said Jamie, a Star Wars and rock music fan, had moved to Carlisle to be with her.

On hearing of his death she said: “I will never forget that day – it was the worst day of my life. I screamed the place down when I heard.

“Then I was just numb. It was pure disbelief that it had happened. I thought it was a nightmare and I was going to wake up. He was my soul mate, not just my fiance”

Before moving to Carlisle, Jamie had lived with his father Richard, 56, mother Jane, 51 and older brother Andrew, 26, near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.

Richard and Jane hit the headlines almost a decade ago when they won £2.3million on the national lottery.

Richard said: “When Jane and I heard from Lianne we had to go up there. It is a five-hour drive. That journey, was a hazy blur. You cannot believe the reality of it. It is the next day when you have all the information that it sinks in. That’s when it is was the hardest.”

He said that living in Cumbria he thought Jamie would be safe and would only worry about him driving down the motorway.

Richard, who works as maintenence manager, said: “Jamie was a happy-go-lucky fun loving person who enjoyed life. He never hurt anybody. Nothing seemed to get him down. He threw himself into everything he wanted to do.”

Asked about Derrick Bird he said: “I don’t think I am every going to understand . Something happened and he has gone over the top. You can’t blame his family for any of that. That is down to the individual. What he did is so horrific..

“I have no anger against the family. They have offered to apologise. They don’t need to.

“I have been through all the emotions. I don’t know where I stand. We are never going to forget Jamie.

“The funeral is the hardest thing I ever have had to do in my life.”

His mother Jane, a PA, said: “He used to phone home twice a week and always joke. He had a wicked sense of humour.

“Jamie and Lianne were so happy. Jamie had so much to live for. The hardest part is that we are never going to see him again. We are missing him so much.

“He was one of those people who made you feel better for knowing him.”

n More than 120 mourners packed the crematorium in Luton today for Jamie’s funeral.

After a service lasting around 45 minutes, Mr Clark’s family left the crematorium.

Some floral tributes were left but police said the family had requested that mourners give donations instead to a fund set up to help those affected by the shootings in Cumbria.

A tribute from Mr Clark’s father Richard said: “Dear Jamie, our son we are all proud of. Your happiness put sunshine in everyone’s lives.

“Jamie, I will so miss you but never forget you. You are forever in my heart.

“Until we meet again. Your ever loving Dad. xxxxx.”

Mother Jane wrote: “My darling Jamie, my ‘baby boy’. We are so proud to have had you as our son. You made our lives so complete.

“I’ll never forget how you were always there for me.

“We will miss you so much, I will carry you in my heart forever.

“I love you. Mummy. xxxx.”

First published at 08:55, Saturday, 19 June 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk