Inquiry treated us with contempt, says family of man shot by police on M62

The official investigation into the police shooting of a man on the M62 motorway is in crisis after the victim’s family said they had been treated with “utter contempt”.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is examining the fatal shooting of Yassar Yaqub, 28, by armed police on a slip road of the M62 in Huddersfield on 2 January.

Yaqub was shot through the windscreen of his white Audi following what police described as a “pre-planned operation” after a tip-off that he was in possession of an illegal firearm. A gun was later found in the footwell of the passenger seat where Yaqub was sitting when he was shot three times in the chest.

But the IPCC investigation into the shooting is facing calls to be taken over by senior officers following an ill-tempered meeting between Yaqub’s family and investigators earlier this month.

Yaqub’s father, Mohammed Yaqub, 59, said the meeting at the IPCC’s officers in Birmingham on 12 April was meant to provide an update on the investigation, but was an “absolute waste of time” and that they “learned nothing whatsoever”.

He said the IPCC suggested its inquiry was being hampered by his son’s friends, who witnessed the shooting from the car that was travelling behind Yaqub’s.

It is understood that the two men have said they wished to assist the IPCC investigation but have been given legal advice not to do so until the conclusion of criminal proceedings against Moshin Amin, the driver of the Audi in which Yaqub was travelling. Amin is due to go on trial later this year charged with possession of the gun found in the footwell, a silencer and 11 9mm rounds.

In a strongly worded letter to the IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green, Mohammed Yaqub’s solicitor Imran Khan requested that she take over the investigation and said the family would no longer cooperate with the current team, led by commissioner Derrick Campbell.

Michael Mansfield QC, the barrister acting for Yaqub’s family, is understood to have told IPCC investigators at the meeting that their approach was reminiscent of “the bad old days” when families were treated with “utter contempt by the police and those charged with investigating police misconduct”.

“The IPCC panel was not fit for purpose – that’s what they’ve shown,” said Mohammed Yaqub. “They tried to tell me certain things that were incorrect. They didn’t have their files with them. I was very, very, very shocked.”

It is understood that the IPCC has taken detailed accounts from all the officers involved and interviewed some witnesses at the scene. The officer who opened fire has told investigators he did so because he believed the suspect posed a danger to himself or his colleagues. No notices of misconduct have been served by the watchdog.

In a statement on behalf of the IPCC, Campbell said: “I am sorry to hear Mohammed Yaqub’s thoughts on the meeting, which I felt was productive. Along with the investigative team I spent more than two hours with the family, discussing our progress so far and outlining what we hope to achieve in the investigation. I have always said this is likely to be a lengthy investigation and have been honest with Yassar’s family about this.”

Campbell said there were limits on what information it could share and that, while it appreciated this could be “frustrating” for the family, it was essential to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

He added: “I understand the family and the local community want the IPCC to conclude this investigation as soon as possible. I hold the same view. The most important thing for all concerned is that we look at this investigation from every available angle and continue to be thorough and rigorous.”

The row emerged ahead of a planned protest in Huddersfield on Saturday against the shooting. The family expects more than 200 people to march to the town’s police station in a demonstration to mark nearly five months since the shooting, which Yaqub’s father described as a “pre-planned assassination”.

He said he would push for a judge-led inquiry similar to those held into the separate police shootings of Mark Duggan and Anthony Grainger. “My family and I will fight this case until the last drop of my blood,” he said. “I would go bankrupt to get to the bottom of this. Nothing else means anything any more.”

Yaqub’s family, which has rejected as “utterly untrue” the characterisation of him as a drugs kingpin, has demanded to know why none of the armed officers involved were wearing body-worn cameras. It has also questioned why the officer opened fire apparently without leaving his vehicle and while Yaqub’s car was still moving after being boxed in by unmarked police cars.

West Yorkshire police has said it is not currently possible for firearms officers to wear the chest-mounted cameras because the position of their guns stops them recording footage. A planned rollout of 2,ooo body-worn cameras to officers has been hampered by a number of technical issues, the force has said.