How was unarmed man shot dead by firearms officer in crime-deterring operation, inquiry asked
The family of a man shot dead by police say it wants lessons to be learned as a public inquiry into his death gets underway.
The family of a man shot dead by police says it wants lessons to be learned as a public inquiry into his death gets underway.
The hearing into the March 2012 death of father-of-two Anthony Grainger is only the second time in England and Wales that a full public inquiry has been set up to examine a fatal police shooting.
Salford-born Mr Grainger, 36, was shot dead by a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) firearms officer during a pre-planned operation to deter suspected criminality in Warrington.
He was sitting in a stolen Audi parked outside a supermarket in Culcheth when he was struck in the chest through the windscreen with a Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun.
Mr Grainger was not armed and no guns were found in the car.
Inquiry chairman Judge Thomas Teague QC has ruled that the officer who shot Mr Grainger will be screened from the public when he gives his evidence because of a risk to his safety.
The officer will be kept anonymous throughout the proceedings at Liverpool Crown Court and referred to as `Q9`.
An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found the firearms officer may have committed a criminal offence. The case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service but it was decided not to proceed with a criminal prosecution.
Inquiry counsel Jason Beer said prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge the officer with murder as a jury “would accept that the officer did believe his actions were necessary and that the level of force used in response to the threat as he perceived it to be was proportionate”.
The public inquiry heard Mr Grainger was suspected of being about to take part in an armed robbery. But Mr Beer said the IPCC investigation uncovered serious failings by GMP and individual officers.
The IPCC found the investigation, known as Operation Shire, relied heavily on “out of date” intelligence in relation to Mr Grainger and that briefings to officers contained “inaccurate information”.
There were serious failings in the use of briefings and intelligence given to firearms officers and in the development of a specific firearms tactic relevant to the situation they faced that day, the IPCC said.
The failings had been organisational and individual and some of the decision-making was formulaic in the forces determination to use the tactic they adopted.
The tactic had been founded on previous training and experience rather than being situation specific.
When he was later interviewed under criminal caution, Q9 and 15 other firearms officers who were treated as significant witnesses declined to give witness statements while being interviewed, preferring to provide their own witness statements penned outside those interviews and send them to the IPCC, added Mr Beer.
David Totton, Robert Rimmer and Joseph Travers, all from Manchester, were arrested at the scene but later found not guilty of conspiracy to rob following a trial in September 2012.
Then a prosecution of former GMP chief constable Sir Peter Fahy, over alleged health and safety breaches linked to Mr Graingers death, collapsed after prosecutors argued some evidence gathered by police was so secret, it would not be in the public interest to be given in court.
Mr Grainger`s inquest was converted to a public inquiry in March 2016 by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May.
Mr Graingers family says it wants justice and a willingness to be open by the force.
Jonathan Bridge, a partner at Farleys Solicitors in Manchester which represents the family, said they have put their faith in the inquiry after almost five years.
He said: They want two things from this inquiry. Firstly they want to understand how an unarmed man can be shot dead at close range by a police officer with a high-powered rifle.
Secondly they want lessons to be learned. No mother should face that knock on the door and be told by an officer that the police have shot and killed her son.
Anthonys parents, siblings and children were all devastated by his death and deserv