A Family Vendetta on 24 Hours In Police Custody recap

Those were the poignant words of Detective Superintendent Mark Dollard during the first gripping episode of 24 Hours In Police Custody's two-part special A Family Vendetta.

The programme, which aired on Channel 4 on Monday December 9, followed the investigation into a dispute over the custody of a child which ended in the fatal shooting of a father and son. 

On the evening of March 29 in 2023, Cambridgeshire Constabulary received a 999 call to Meridian Close in the quiet village of Bluntisham after shots were heard.

The homeowner, 32-year-old Joshua Dunmore, had been fatally shot and the perpetrator had fled the scene.

Stephen Alderton (inset) shot father and son Gary (right) and Joshua Dunmore (left) at their homes in Bluntisham and Sutton on the same night in March 2023. (Image: Police)

Within minutes, another emergency call was received for a second shooting in the village of Sutton, just a 10-minute drive away.

A second victim, Joshua's father Gary Dunmore was discovered fatally wounded.

The 57-year-old had been shot three times in the hallway of his home in The Row.

In the episode, DCI Katie Dounias and her team in the Major Crime Unit established that the motive for the double murder could lie in a dispute over who should have custody of the child of the first victim.

After speaking to their relatives and neighbours - one of whom told police that an "agitated" Stephen Alderton pointed a loaded shotgun at him when questioned - officers identified two potential suspects.

Cameras followed the twists and turns of a double manhunt as armed police discovered that their first suspect was holed up in a nearby hotel with the mother of the child while their second suspect - the grandfather of the child - was heading to the west in a camper van and still armed.

A police chase ensued, with Alderton’s motorhome being stopped on the M5 near Worcester in the early hours of the following morning - more than 100 miles from the crime scenes.

The episode showed that, moments after the dramatic arrest, 67-year-old Alderton admitted to having the shotgun in his vehicle.

Later, with both suspects in custody, the interviews began.

“I come from a world where you do what's right - you look after your family,” Alderton was shown to have said while in his cell.

"If it wasn't for all that, I wouldn't be here today. And you can sort of see that the years ahead are just going to be dealing with bitter clashes. It's just a nightmare." 

Watching the body-worn footage, Detective Constable Claire Atkinson said: "It makes me angry to watch it. He is so blasé.

"It's just horrible to watch, thinking that someone can be like that straight after doing something so horrific, twice."

Speaking after the first interview, in which Alderton mostly answered no comment, DS Mark Dollard said: "I've not sat across a table from somebody who's just shot two people in the head before. 

"A retired professional who’s never been in trouble with the police. That’s not who you expect to sit across from when you're asking him about executing two people on their doorsteps."

He added: “When Stephen set out with his plan, did he really think through the impact it would have on his family?”

At the close of the episode, Alderton - who admitted two counts of murder in June 2023 and was jailed for life - is seen peering through the letterbox of his door in an attempt to speak to his daughter.

In a press release issued by Cambridgeshire Constabulary ahead of the programme airing, DCI Katie Dounias said: “My thoughts remain with the family and friends of Gary and Josh, some of whom bravely shared their experience with 24 Hours and bring to life the devastating impact of the shootings.

“Alderton’s sentence was raised on appeal to a minimum of 30 years, but no sentence is sufficient to make amends for the irreparable damage he caused to so many lives.”

Part two of 'A Family Vendetta' airs on Channel 4 tonight (Tuesday December 9).