Police Shot Suspect Six Times, Landmark Inquiry Hears

A 24-year-old suspect was shot six times by a police officer within seconds of the officer's car pulling up beside the victim's car, a public inquiry has heard.

The inquiry - the first of its kind to look into a police shooting - heard that Azelle Rodney, from Hounslow, was "killed instantly" in the incident in Edgware, north London, in 2005.

The Met police officers thought that Mr Rodney and two others - named as Wesley Lovell and Frank Graham - were on their way to commit an armed raid.

The inquiry has been called because at an inquest into the young man's death, a coroner was not given access to the intelligence information which led police to believe Mr Rodney was armed.

Oral hearings are taking place at a court in the Principal Registry of the Family Division in central London.

Chairman Sir Christopher Holland, a retired High Court judge, will determine how, when, where and in what circumstances Mr Rodney died and is expected to make recommendations.

(NE)