Rodney police marksman loses shooting bid

A police marksman has lost his High Court bid to challenge a public inquiry finding that he used excessive force when he killed robbery suspect Azelle Rodney.

The officer, known only as E7, argued the finding was "irrational and unsustainable".

He asked two judges for permission to seek judicial review of conclusions reached by the inquiry chairman, Sir Christopher Holland, that Mr Rodney was unlawfully killed - a finding E7's lawyers describe as "tantamount to murder".

Sir Brian Leveson, president of the Queen's Bench Division, sitting with Mr Justice Irwin at London's High Court, ruled today there was "no value in granting permission" and refused the application.

E7 shot 24-year-old Mr Rodney in Edgware in April 2005 when officers stopped the car in which he was travelling with two other men.

The officer opened fire within a second of stopping beside the trio, hitting Mr Rodney six times, once each in the arm and back, and fatally four times in the head.

Samantha Leek QC, representing E7, told the High Court at a hearing earlier this month that the Metropolitan Police Service was in possession of reliable intelligence that the men in the car were in possession of machine guns and were on their way to rob Colombian drug dealers.

Firearms officers were tasked to intercept them.

E7's justification for firing was that he "honestly believed" Mr Rodney had picked up and was preparing to fire a machine gun capable of firing 1,000 rounds per minute.

Sir Christopher, a High Court judge, rejected the claim and found in a report last July that E7 used excessive force.