Police get their stories straight after shootings.

[AboveTheSalt]

Last May, Mark Saunders, a 32 year old lawyer who was reported to be depressed over difficulties with his marriage and who lived in a £2m house just off the King's Road in Chelsea was shot at least five times by the Police following a five-and-a-half hour stand-off and died as a result of his injuries.

He had been heard to fire shots into a neighbour's garden, into a child's bedroom in a neighbouring house and had fired a couple of shots in the direction of the Police. Nobody was injured.

At some stage, for an unknown reason, the Police decided to shoot and kill him - it is not clear why and there appears to be no reason to believe that there was any urgency or panic.

Four months later, his sister has finally managed to get a High Court review into the circumstances surrounding his shooting. In the meantime the Police have had plenty of time to discuss the incident amongst themselves and agree their stories. (Link)


This case is somewhat reminiscent of Jean Charles de Menezes and of Harry Stanley who was shot by the Police whilst walking home with a table leg wrapped in a plastic bag in the middle of the afternoon nine years ago. (Link)


I can understand that the Police sometimes make mistakes. What I can't understand is that they are allowed to spend time working together and with lawyers to get their stories straight. This seems to be an absolute travesty of justice and accountability.