Police 'shot man six times in less than a second'

Azelle Rodney, 24, was killed almost "instantly" when Met officers stopped and opened fire on the VW Golf in which he was a back-seat passenger in Edgware, north London, on April 30 2005.

Police apparently believed the occupants of the car - Mr Rodney and two other men Wesley Lovell and Frank Graham - were on their way to commit an armed robbery linked to drugs, following a tip-off by HM Customs and Excise investigators.

Ashley Underwood QC told the inquiry into Mr Rodney's death that the officer who fired the fatal shots, known by the cipher E7, was in the front passenger seat of an unmarked police car that stopped level with the driver's side back window on the Golf.

He said: "Within less than a second of the car containing the officer coming to a halt, he opened fire with a carbine.

"He fired eight shots rapidly. Of these, six shots hit Mr Rodney. He was killed more or less instantly."

An Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation exonerated the officers involved and prosecutors found there were no grounds to bring charges.

The inquiry is being held into Mr Rodney's death after a coroner ruled that an inquest could not be heard due to the sensitive nature of some of the evidence that would have to remain secret.

It is the first time a public inquiry has been launched into a fatal police shooting.

It will also be the first time that intelligence officers give evidence in open court.

Mr Underwood played footage of the "hard stop" captured by another officer, known as E12.

As the Golf was brought to a halt, shots could be heard but the shooting itself was not shown. The inquiry was also shown footage of the bloodstained interior of the car.

Three guns were found in the vehicle, but there are questions over exactly where they were at the time of the shooting, Mr Underwood said.

A Colt .45 pistol was found on the driver's side of the back seat, partially covered by plastic.

It was incapable of firing and was not loaded, although three rounds of suitable ammunition were found in a plastic bag in the footwell.

Two other guns were found in a rucksack in the back footwell - a Baikal pistol wrapped in a scarf that was loaded but had its safety catch was on, and another that looked like a car key fob that was wrapped in a glove. It was loaded and the safety was off.

Mr Lovell and Mr Graham were arrested and later admitted possession of firearms.

The inquiry, chaired by retired High Court judge Sir Christopher Holland, is expected to last between eight and 10 weeks.

paddym@peoples-press.com