OK, Lookout, what would have been your thoughts? You're in a police car going to an emergency shout and you pass a car in no hurry to get anywhere and shows no sign of hitting the accelerator after you pass. You arrive at the scene and minutes after this same car appears, its' occupant being the son of the family where the emergency. My first thought had ALREADY been that this person was in no hurry to get where they were going. WHY would I change my mind? Had he been speeding, under the circumstances, I'd have fully understood why. It would have seemed far more natural to me that he'd want to assist his parents by being there asap.
Okay,so Jeremy was known for putting his foot down normally. A show off. Always something lacking when a young man puts speed before anything else,but that's another theory/story. Because these young men feel the need for speed doesn't necessarily mean that their ordinary lives revolve around speed.In other words it was probably the only time that Jeremy put a spurt on when he was behind the wheel of a car,other than that he probably lounged around if he wasn't working,too idle to scratch himself.
However,being confronted about the unknown on the 7th of August,he probably had all kinds of things going through his mind,hence his reason for " crawling " along,plus,he didn't want to be seen overtaking a police car. If he'd bombed along at his normal speed it would have been wrong,in his mind,because as far as he was concerned at that point,he had no idea what had gone on. Nobody did,until hours later.
At the mention of his sister brandishing a gun,I don't think I'd have been in a hurry to have possibly been shot either. Jeremy was scared . He may have had visions of a rifle poking out of an open window,we don't know. He was being cautious and probably felt safe with the police around.
Even EP didn't make an attempt to barge along. In fact,what did they do for over 3 hours anyway ?
If Jeremy had gone like the clappers,shouting up at the farmhouse or through the letter box,he'd definitely have been shot,of that there's no doubt.
Even if Neville had phoned,saying that Sheila was shooting someone upstairs,Jeremy would only have gone so far.As it was,EP told him to hide behind a wall etc., so there was nothing he could have done.
Going as slow as he did is certainly not a punishable offence.Better to be a live coward than a dead hero.