HARRY STANLEY WAS SHOT IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD

Yesterday, Harry Stanley's death at the hands of police ‘marksmen’ was ruled to be an unlawful killing - after a five-year campaign by his family. The Scottish grandfather was mistaken for 'an Irishman carrying a shotgun.' In fact, he was carrying a newly mended coffee table leg.

Police originally claimed they opened fire because Stanley had deliberately sought to make out that the table leg he was carrying was a gun, cradling it to his body. However, an inquest into Stanley’s death in June 2002 heard forensic evidence that he was facing away from the police when he was shot.

Now the police are said to be ‘angry’. Reports say “about 20 Metropolitan Police firearms officers have handed in their weapons in protest at the suspension of two colleagues over a fatal shooting.”

What the fuck are they angry about? The police in this country are not used to being prosecuted, they are used to operating as a force above the law, where they investigate any charges brought against themselves.

Here’s an archive of death by police action in the UK: Cell Deaths and other Unprosecuted Events

And more coverage of the Harry Stanley case here.

It’s not surprise that the Sun has been a complete disgrace in all this, publishing comments made by newly-appointed Met commissioner calling for a change in the law to protect firearms officers from the prospect of serious criminal charges.

Mrs Stanley said: "My husband was a member of the public and he was killed by the police."
"The [protesting firearms] officers weren't at the scene when this happened to my husband so they don't know what happened."

Her solicitor Daniel Machover said: “Sir Ian's calls for legal protection for firearms officers were "very, very worrying" and "totally out of line with the legal process", he added.