Tributes have been paid to two Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency inspectors who were killed 25 years ago today while they were visiting an MOT garage in the course of their duties.
Alan Singleton and Simon Bruno, working for the then Vehicle Inspectorate – one of the predecessors of the DVSA, were at Chestergate Auto Centre in Stockport for a routine inspection when a man armed with a shotgun came onto the premises and opened fire, killing both.
Garage owner Thomas Bourke was convicted of murder and given a life sentence in 1994.
Singleton had been an active rep for the Institution for Professionals, Managers and Specialists, the predecessor union of Prospect, while Bruno was also a member.
A plaque to commemorate Singleton and Bruno is in place at Chadderton Goods Vehicle Test Station near Oldham, where Prospect’s DVSA branch held its delegate conference and held a minute’s silence to mark the anniversary.
In a statement, Prospect’s DVSA branch said: “The Prospect union DVSA section held a minute’s silence prior to the beginning of our Annual Delegates meeting at Chadderton GVTS yesterday to remember and commemorate our fallen colleagues who were tragically murdered on 22 November 1993 while going about their enforcement duties for the then Vehicle Inspectorate.
“All staff were invited to attend where they could reflect, remember and pay their respects to the lives and memory of Alan and Simon.
“It is important they are not forgotten and it’s a reminder, to those continuing to enforce road safety for DVSA, of the need for awareness and diligence while performing their day-to-day activities. As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.”
DVSA said staff would be marking the anniversary but did not wish to comment further to respect the privacy of the families. Singleton was survived by a wife and son, while Bruno left behind a wife and daughter.