Police officer shot unarmed man six times in back of car

Public inquiry opens into fatal shooting of Azelle Rodney by Met officer in north London in 2005

A police officer shot a suspect six times within a second of pulling alongside his car, an inquiry heard today.

An unarmed man was shot dead by a Metropolitan Police officer who opened fire less than a second after pulling up alongside his car, an unprecedented public inquiry has heard.

Azelle Rodney, 24, was shot six times by the officer, known only as E7, as he sat in the back of a Volkswagen Golf after it was forced to stop in Edgware, north London, by three unmarked police cars on 30 April 2005.

The armed officers were acting on intelligence initially obtained by Her Majesty's Custom and Excise – then responsible for drug investigations – and believed the car's three occupants were about to "rip off" a Columbian drugs cartel using machine-guns.

On the first day of the public inquiry into Mr Rodney's death at the Family Division of the High Court in central London – the first time such an inquiry has been held into a fatal shooting by police officers – the chronology of events, intelligence logs and unanswered questions was laid out.

Ashley Underwood QC, counsel to the inquiry, told chairman Sir Christopher Holland: "To reach your conclusions you may have to choose between conflicting accounts. To do that, you may have to decide whether the contradictions are innocent or not."

The inquiry heard how HMCE believed a man known as "the Principal", an associate of the Columbians, was planning a "rip-off" with a group of men using machine-guns – and alerted the Met on 5 April 2005.

That time it did not happen, but the same intelligence reappeared three weeks later. Operation Tayport was convened and triggered 48 hours of rapid intelligence gathering and surveillance in an attempt to identify where the armed robbery would take place and who would carry it out.

The court was shown video footage of the car chase, filmed by an officer in a following car. It ended in a "hard stop", with three police cars boxing in the Golf and E7 opening fire into the right-hand side passenger window.

The inquiry also saw a partial reconstruction which showed what E7 would have seen as he fired, and the likely trajectory of the six bullets that hit Mr Rodney in the chest, neck and face.

Three guns were found in the Golf – one was deactivated, a second was not cocked and had its safety catch on, and the third was loaded with the safety catch off in a rucksack. There were no automatic weapons. The first information released to the press immediately after the shooting wrongly claimed that Mr Rodney was armed.

Mr Rodney was wanted by police in connection with an alleged serious assault in 2004. One of the key questions to be examined is why, despite being known to the Met, he was not identified and arrested earlier. The name "Azell" was identified by HMCE as a suspect, but the connection was never made with Mr Rodney, the inquiry heard.

An inquest such as that held after the death of Jean Charles De Menezes was impossible because coroners are not allowed to see intercept evidence obtained through phone taps.

This inquiry will examine all the intelligence, but the precise mechanisms by which it was gathered, including informants, will be protected. It is also the first time intelligence officers involved in such a case will give evidence.

Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
India and Shimla
14 nights from only £1899pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from £199pp Find out more
4* Soreda hotel break, Malta
Seven nights all-inclusive from £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death