Azelle Rodney: Policeman Fired Eight Shots

A former police firearms officer accused of murdering a suspected armed robber was "not acting lawfully when he opened fire" almost as soon as the suspect came within his gun sights, a court has heard.

Anthony Long, a former specialist firearms officer with the Metropolitan Police, was trying to stop an armed gang in north London in April 2005 when Azelle Rodney was killed.

Mr Rodney was one of three men in a VW Golf being followed by police, who had intelligence the trio were on their way to rob a group of Colombian drug dealers.

Long, on trial at the Old Bailey, denies murder.

The jury was shown video of the moment armed officers pulled over Mr Rodney's car in the Mill Hill area of north London.

The footage was filmed by one of the officers and shows the unmarked police cars boxing in the Golf and bringing it to a halt. A rapid succession of gun shots can be heard just a split second after the vehicles come to a stop.

The court was told that Long fired eight shots at Mr Rodney from his G36 short barrelled semi-automatic rifle, six of which hit him.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Max Hill QC said: "The majority of those shots caused fatal injuries to Azelle Rodney, culminating in the final two shots which were fired into the top of Azelle Rodney's head."

The jury was told the firearms officer opened fire and killed Mr Rodney within 600th of a second of the police vehicle stopping alongside the car in which Mr Rodney was a rear seat passenger.

The prosecution say Long in effect opened fire as soon as Mr Rodney came into his gun sights and there was not time for anything else.

Mr Hill said the defendant had fired "so quickly we say, that he cannot have taken any time to observe anything happening inside the Golf before he opened fire."

The prosecutor continued: "Mr Long cannot have seen whether Azelle Rodney was doing anything before he pulled the trigger on his police carbine."

The court was also told that police later recovered three hand guns and ammunition from inside the VW Golf.

One of the hand guns had been deactivated, but two were in working order and one was loaded.

The prosecutor said he did not wish to belittle the "onerous duties" carried out by specialist firearms officers like Long and his team, but that with onerous duties came "onerous responsibilities".

Long was a 30-year police veteran at the time of the shooting in 2005 and had spent a number of years as a firearms officer.

The trial at the Old Bailey continues.