Police officer who killed Mark Duggan was ex-TA solider and six year veteran of Met gun squad

 
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8 January 2014

The police officer who shot Mark Duggan was a former Territorial Army soldier who had been part of the Met's CO19 armed response unit for six years.

His own life has been turned upside down by the incident. He has been removed from "operational duties" for more than two years and the incident has put a strain on his family.

Known only by the code name V53, he gave evidence in front of the Duggan family in open court but journalists and members of the public were removed to an annexe and could only hear his voice during testimony.

The 6ft 2in officer, who joined the Met in 1997, insisted it was "complete rubbish" to suggest Mr Duggan did not have a gun when he fired twice in self-defence. He said the gun was in a black sock but he could make out the barrel, handle and trigger-guard.

Weapon: the gun found at the scene of the killing of Mark Duggan in Tottenham

Giving evidence on October 15, he said: "It's 804 days since this happened and I'm 100 per cent sure he was in possession of a gun on shot one and shot two."

The officer was also a firearms instructor and had helped make up the team of 11 assigned to stop Mr Duggan on August 4, 2011. He had done more than 50 "interceptions", and had never fired a shot before. He had extra medical training and led the fight to save Mr Duggan's life until paramedics arrived.

He was travelling in a BMW - the third of three undercover vehicles performing the "hard stop". The BMW pulled up immediately behind the Toyota minicab in Ferry Lane to prevent it reversing away.

He said that Mr Duggan jumped out of the taxi "at pace" and with a "spring in his step... that convinced me he was looking to escape".

Giving evidence, he described the "freeze frame moment" when he saw a gun in Mr Duggan's right hand. "In my head the world had stopped," he said.

"As he's turned to face me, he has an object in his right hand.... I can see the handle of the weapon, I can make out the trigger guardian, can make out the barrel and it's side on to his body and there's a black sock covering that weapon.

"I've assessed and at that time he's not posing a threat to me. So, again, I'm hoping he's going to drop it or he's going to do something. Again, this is happening in milliseconds but then the next thing he does, he starts to move the gun away from his body.

"Because he's moved it away from his body I now have an honest held belief he's going to shoot me."

He said Mr Duggan's actions with the gun crossed "the tipping point or the line in the sand".

"So I had my MP5 [rifle] in an off-aim ready position....I brought my weapon up and I've discharged one round and I'm aiming for the central body mass because I'm looking to shoot to stop, to achieve... basically stop the threat.

Shot: Mark Duggan's death sparked rioting across London

"I've given a big loud shout of 'Shots fired, shots fired' because I wanted to let everyone know that I've actually engaged Mr Duggan and I just remember him falling backwards and officers converging on him."

V53 added: "When you're involved in a police shooting it doesn't only affect the deceased but it affects me and my family. [It] has had a detrimental effect on my home life."

Under cross-examination from the Duggan family's solicitor, Leslie Thomas, V53 said: "Mr Duggan, Mark Duggan, had a gun when he got out of that minicab. I'm 100 per cent convinced, on 4 August as I am today, okay, that this moment has lived with me for the last two years.

"I keep running this moment through my head day in, day out and Mark Duggan had a gun, he presented a threat to me and the only option I had was to defend myself and to open fire."

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