Retired Met police officer charged with murder of Azelle Rodney
The Crown Prosecution Statement has just announced it will charge a retired Metropolitan police officer with the murder of Azelle Rodney.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said in a statement:
“We have carefully considered the new file of evidence submitted to us and have decided that a former Metropolitan Police officer, currently identified only as E7, will be prosecuted for murder.”
It’s been a long tough fight for the family of Azelle Rodney to get to today’s unprecedented announcement.
His mother Susan Alexander has been confronted with a seemingly endless series of legal hurdles to try to get to the truth about how and why Azelle Rodney died in a volley of shots during what in police parlance is called a “hard stop” on at a busy junction in North London.
The main obstruction in their quest was the refusal of the authorities for access to police covert material. Last year the family got a public inquiry chaired by a retired Sir Christopher Holland and got to see the secret material.
He concluded that the shooting by a trained firearms officer was disproportionate, unreasonable and therefore unlawful.
It is his findings and unlawful killing verdict that form the basis for today’s announcement today by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Rodney, a suspected drug dealer, was hit six times in a volley of eight shots within two seconds as he sat in the back of a car on its way to ambush a gang of Columbian cocaine dealers in April 2005.
The inquiry found Mr Rodney would have survived if the shooting had stopped after two bullets had been fired.
CPS say it has determined there is a realistic prospect of conviction and prosecution of officer known as E7 is in the public interest
— simon israel (@simonisrael) July 30, 2014
The full statement from the CPS is below:
“Azelle Rodney died after the discharge of a police firearm on 30 April 2005. “Following the outcome of the public inquiry, the Independent Police Complaints Commission re-referred the matter to the CPS, providing us with the evidence previously gathered and the further evidence and material which has emerged since the initial referral.
“We have carefully considered the new file of evidence submitted to us and have decided that a former Metropolitan Police officer, currently identified only as E7, will be prosecuted for murder. The individual currently has anonymity granted under section 19(2)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005, made on 16 January 2012 by the chairman of the inquiry.
“The decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. We have determined that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.
“E7 will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, 10 September 2014.
“Criminal proceedings have now commenced and the individual known as E7 has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”