No charges over police shooting of barrister Mark Saunders

originally by: The Guardian
published: 21st December 2010

No one will be charged over the death of barrister Mark Saunders at the hands of police marksmen, prosecutors announced today. An inquest jury ruled in October that Scotland Yard firearms officers acted lawfully when they killed the 32-year-old during an armed siege at his home in Chelsea, south-west London.

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers said they would review the proceedings to see whether any significant new evidence had emerged. Today, Sally Walsh, of the CPS, said she had examined the transcript of the two-and-a-half-week inquest and a report submitted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but nothing had been found “which would be capable of affecting my original decision”.

She added: “There remains insufficient evidence to charge any officer in relation to the tragic death of Mark Saunders. I would again extend my sympathies to Mr Saunders’s family.”

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