Now, though, his training kicked in, and he instinctively weighed up the danger to himself and his colleagues, concluding that non-lethal force would be insufficient to nullify it.
Knowing that it was him or the gunman, and holding an honest belief that his life was in imminent danger, Keith Cash did the only thing he could – he fired two well-placed rounds into the car.
His colleague, Lucy Cornwall, who had been the rear passenger in the ARV with him, had reached the same conclusion and, at almost exactly the same time, she had discharged her carbine, also firing two rounds.
As the window shattered inward, and the man inside the cab was driven backwards by the force of the bullets entering his torso, the world around Keith Cash sped up again, and suddenly there was frantic movement everywhere.
As he took a step backwards, stunned by what had happened, his AFO colleagues rushed forward to pull open the driver’s door and drag the unresisting suspect out of the cab. After making sure that he had no other firearms on him, they immediately commenced emergency life support. Their driver, Danny Marsh, was on the radio, requesting an ambulance and HEMS. Although the helicopter was out of service, they still had a fleet of fast response vehicles in which expert medical support could be deployed.
Lucy appeared at Keith’s side, looking every bit as shaken as he felt. “Why did he do that?” she asked in a daze. “He must’ve known how it would end.”
Keith could only shrug helplessly. He had been wondering exactly the same thing. “Perhaps he wanted suicide by police?” he suggested lamely, referring to the phenomenon in which a suspect deliberately behaved in a threatening manner in order to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement. From his training, Cash knew that this situation fit the profile perfectly. The man on the floor had committed a murder and was facing life imprisonment. Perhaps, when he realised the game was up, he decided that he would rather die than endure long-term incarceration, especially if he had only recently been released from another lengthy prison sentence and couldn’t bear the thought of going back inside.
Keith felt a flicker of anger as he considered this. He and Lucy would have to live with what they had just done for the rest of their lives, and if it transpired that the bastard had tricked them into killing him as an alternative to going to jail, that would just make him feel ten times worse.
There are three main areas of UK law covering the use of force. The first is Common Law, which allows someone to use reasonable force in order to prevent crime, carry out a lawful arrest, or recapture someone who is unlawfully at large. The second is Section 3 of The Criminal Law Act, which allows the reasonable use of force in the prevention of crime and in the defence of oneself or another, or in the protection of property. Lastly, there is Section 117 of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act, which allows a constable to use reasonable force in the lawful execution of any power, such as when they are making an arrest or carrying out a search.
Regardless of the legislation relied upon to justify their actions, officers were required to demonstrate that the force was both reasonable and necessary in all the circumstances – in other words, it had to be proportionate to the threat posed. Keith was well aware that the fatal use of force would be subjected to the most intensive scrutiny. After what had just happened, he and Lucy would be placed on restricted duties – desk-bound, in other words – until the Complaints Investigation Bureau and the Independent Police Complaint’s Commission had finished their respective investigations and had declared the incident a ‘clean shoot’. That could take a very long time, he knew, and if CIB and the IPCC decided it wasn’t a ‘clean shoot,’ then he and Lucy could find themselves gripping the rail – a police euphemism for standing trial – for murder or manslaughter. And the Job hierarchy wondered why rank and file officers were so opposed to routine arming of all officers?
Once the scene was secured, everyone involved would be taken straight to Leman Street police station for the Post Incident Procedure. Apart from the officers involved, there would be CIB, Police Federation representatives and a legal advisor present.
In accordance with established procedures, after the PIP debrief, the officers would make initial notes of the incident. They would then be sent home and would not make their individual full written statements until their return to duty in two days’ time.
“We did the right thing, Keith,” Lucy said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm and giving it a little squeeze. “We had to take the shot.”
He nodded. “I know we did,” he replied. “It was him or us.” He just hoped that if the suspect dies, the CIB and IPCC would see it the same way.
Chapter 12
It was almost 5 p.m. when Tyler and the others arrived back at Arbour Square. The appeal at the RCJ had been heard, and the presiding panel of senior Judges had decreed that they would deliver their judgement in three weeks’ time. Until then, there was nothing more that the enquiry team could do, and so the case could be put on the back-burner for a little while.
The office was practically deserted when Tyler and the three DCs who had accompanied him walked in. “Deano, where is everyone?” Jack asked.
Dean Fletcher, the lead researcher on his Intel Cell, was hunched over his desk, his stern features locked in fierce concentration as he ham-fistedly typed up a report. A radio was playing classical music in the background, and it sounded depressingly dull to Jack,
