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Lawyers mourn barrister shot by police

on the contrary Despite being in full agreement on lethal force in certain situations, it is difficult to believe that this man was shot at all by the police with the intention of killing him. Even more of disbelief is the SAS style execution that they employed (storming the apartment and filling him with 5 bullets from a semi-automatic machine gun). Every aspect of this is excessive force. The police must have known the identity of this man, his background and hence the irrationality of his behaviour. If this man had been drinking, on drugs or mentally ill then the right approach would have been to cordon off the area, pump tear gas into the building and sit tight, regardless of whether he had a gun. This shoot-to-kill policy should not be used in domestic cases even if firearms are used unless there is clear and immediate threat to human life. He had no hostages so the only targets would have been heavily armed police who did not need to confront with force. I also question whether, from looking at the pictures in the press, the SAS or ex-SAS accompany SO19 in these situations and would suggest their "killing house" approach is not appropriate in such circumstances. This man was not thinking straight and there is no excuse for killing the man. I feel sorry for him, his wife and his whole family.

9-May-2008

11:20 am