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Mark Saunders
Family of shot barrister in police legal battle
16/ 7/2008
THE family of the Alderley Edge born barrister shot dead by police in London have launched a landmark legal battle over the way officers are alleged to have collaborated on their account of the killing.
Mark Saunders, 32, was killed by police marksmen on May 6 at the Chelsea flat he shared with his wife.
His younger sister Charlotte, 26, has applied for a judicial review at the High Court into the manner in which the investigation has been handled.
It is alleged officers involved in the case had up to a month to write up their account of events, having conferred and debriefed together, before submitting them to an independent inquiry and that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) failed to disclose sufficient information about the investigation to the family.
Although it is standard police policy in England and Wales that officers pool their recollections in this way following a fatal incident, the Saunders family, who feel the gun seige could have been resolved peacefully, are fighting the practice on the grounds that it breaches European Human Rights laws. They have hired a top civil rights lawyer to fight their case.
If successful, it could lead to a series of appeals over police shootings, including the mistaken killing of Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005.
Mr Saunders, 32, a barrister at the prestigious QEB chambers in London and former member of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), was killed after firing a shotgun from the windows of his flat.
Nine officers - eight from the Metropolitan Police’s specialist firearms unit CO19 and a ninth from the diplomatic protection unit - opened fire and Mr Saunders was shot five times and died at the scene from his injuries.
Senior police sources at the time said the marksmen had been left with no alternative.
The Saunders family of Brook Lane, Alderley Edge, have questioned why the stand-off could not have been resolved peacefully and have also complained directly to the IPCC.
Mrs Saunders said: “We want to see justice for our son and for a brother.”
The initial hearing takes place at the High Court this Friday, July 18.
Most recent 2 of 49 user comments
He did not shoot anybody although he could have done, If he intended to, he already would have done before the police got there, thats only commonsense observation. People panic, dont keep cool heads.The police are the same but some are also trigger happy. My opinion is the whole situation was handled badly by the police, His wife should have been allowed to talk to him. Police nowadays, (not there fault) are just like machines because of the system they are ruled by. The man was probably worked to death and under great stress not coping. It could happen to anybody these days that they feel they need protection from society or that the only way to get help is by drastic action like he did.(Wrong way he went about it i agree.) But i for one will not accept how the police deal with things is the right way. In a bank being robbed by shotgun YES Get them all potted as soon as possible. someone rampaging down the street with gun YES again pot them right out straight away.This guy was in his own home, firing into the air. NOT at anybody at all.Just drawing attention to himself. Some committ suicide instead an introvert, some break out and draw attention to themselves in silly ways like this one did. Anyway i shall wait for the outcome now what happens next.I shall not say any more on this subject.
20/08/2008 at 16:39
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20/08/2008 at 21:36