THE family of Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by police in 2011 sparked riots across Britain, urged leading judges yesterday to overturn an inquest jury’s conclusion that he was lawfully killed.

Mr Duggan was shot by a firearms officer known as V53 in Tottenham, north London, who was part of a specialist team that believed he was planning an attack and had collected a handgun.

The jury decided in January 2014 that the 29-year-old was lawfully killed by a police marksman, despite deciding that he was unarmed at the time he was shot.

They concluded that he had dropped the firearm on to grass as soon as the minicab came to a stop — but the officer “honestly believed” Mr Duggan still had a gun when he was shot.

Mr Duggan’s mother Pamela is seeking to quash the 2014 verdict on the basis that the coroner misdirected the jury. The family say that it wasn’t made clear that if the jury decided Mr Duggan had not been in a possession of a gun then they could not conclude that the killing was lawful.

But the QC representing the Duggan family told three Court of Appeal judges in London yesterday that they “do not seek a fresh inquest” as the initial examination had been a distressing experience for the family.

Hugh Southey, representing Ms Duggan, explained that the family were seeking an order to quash the 2014 verdict. Or, if the verdict is upheld, that it be officially put on record.