source: The Guardian
published: 29 April 2014
The mother of a man unlawfully shot dead by police says her suffering has been made worse by prosecutors who waited six months before beginning work on deciding whether criminal charges should be brought.
The Crown Prosecution Service is studying evidence over the shooting dead of Azelle Rodney by a Metropolitan police marksman nine years ago. It follows an official inquiry finding in July 2013 that the officer had unlawfully killed Azelle Rodney, whom he shot six times.
The marksman, known as E7, shot dead Rodney, 24, in April 2005 without warning when he was a passenger in a car that police were following, believing its three occupants were planning a serious armed crime.
The official inquiry into the death said it did not accept the officer’s account of why he opened fire, killing Rodney with four bullets to his head. The dead man’s mother, Susan Alexander, said the verdict meant her son had been “executed”. The officer has retired from the police service.
The shooting happened nine years ago and Rodney’s mother, Susan Alexander has said the delays in deciding if criminal charges should be brought are “intolerable”.
