Dramatic video of the moment barrister Mark Saunders was shot dead by police marksmen was shown in court today. The jury at his inquest will rule on whether his killing was ‘lawful.’
Audio recordings of the negotiations, police tactical discussions and a 999 call by Mark Saunders were also played at Westminster Coroner’s court in Marylebone.
Mr. Saunders was shot and killed after a three hour standoff at his home in Chelsea in 2008. Officers say they were forced to fire for their own safety; but the man’s family insist he posed no risk to the public.
Evidence shown
The video showed Mr Saunders hanging out of the 4th floor widow of his Markham Square home. He was waving a shotgun and as negotiators pleaded with him, via mobile phone and loudspeaker, he could be seen slowly lowering the weapon.
Five bullets fired by seven officers hit Mr Saunders as the gun reached a horizontal position. The barrister received fatal injuries to the head and chest.
During the hearing, the jury has heard details of Mr Saunders’ battle with drugs and alcohol. Giving evidence in an earlier session his wife Elizabeth told how she had supported him through these problems and thought he was having one of his ‘episodes’. At the time of his death he was three times over the drink-drive limit.
Mrs Saunders described how, on the night of his death, she was told to stay away from their house; she and Mr Saunders’ friend Michael Bradley were told to turn their phones off so as not to interfere with the negotiations.
Later that evening Mrs Saunders found her husband had sent her a blank text message. A neighbour also later found a note scribbled on a cardboard box outside, it read: “I love my wife dearly.”
The negotiations
The tapes showed police discussing tactics, with one saying Mr Saunders was “clearly dotty about his wife” and suggesting that she could help them “engage with him emotionally.”
Another said: “This is not a bloke who wants to die. He has already mentioned two things about the future. The biggest danger is he shoots himself by mistake or comes wandering out with his gun and gets popped.”
At one point, Superintendent John Sutherland, who took the majority of the decisions that night, told Mr Saunders that his wife was nearby and he could speak to her if he came out of the house.
But the tapes also revealed Mr Saunders’ last clear communication to police in which he said it would be “painless” to shoot himself and he wanted to speak to his wife to say goodbye.
The jury of 11 people will be asked to rule whether Mr Saunders was killed lawfully.