I was going to write about this case – but Geeklawyer beat me to it. His piece is worth reading. Geeklawyer, if you read his blog, has extensive experience of Civil Liberties (I have not met him) and while he is robust in his views and has some very amusing rants on his site – this is a serious piece. So – here it is.
What troubles me about the case was the need to shoot 7 bullets into the head, or even to shoot at all. I can understand the need for a specialist firearms officer in a close quarter battle situation, where there is clear and immediate danger to the public, having to shoot to kill. But was that the case here? Perhaps the IPCC report will clear this important point up.
Liberty point out that the ongoing secrecy is unnaceptable and that the IPCC report has still not been published “Suggestions that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has yet to be interviewed as to what he knew and said about the shooting such a long time ago are equally disturbing. Such delays help neither the difficult work of the police nor public confidence in secret procedures for the use of lethal force.”
