Family Challenges London Police Shooting of Armed Barrister
There’s no dispute that a wealthy London barrister was firing a shotgun from his upscale home this spring, before he was shot and killed by police.
But authorities overreacted to a situation in which Mark Saunders, 32, wasn’t a threat, his family contended in a High Court hearing this week. The case was filed over the way the investigation of the police shooting on May 6 is being handled, and claims that authorities have violated the European Convention on Human Rights, according to the London Times.
Specifically, his sister, Charlotte Saunders, is contending that delays in starting an independent investigation and interviewing the officers involved, as well as allowing them to confer together, an earlier London Times article explains.
Saunders hadn’t fired for 20 minutes before he was shot to death by police marksmen inside his Chelsea home after a five-hour standoff, and the neighborhood had by that point been evacuated, counsel Tim Owen argued at the hearing. “As a consequence, it is difficult to see who was being put at risk or who the police may have believed was being put at risk by Mr Saunders’ actions at the time when he was shot.”
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com (May 8): “Police Snipers Shot London Barrister in Unusual Armed Response”
ABAJournal.com (May 7): “Prominent London Lawyer Killed in Police Shootout”
