Witness thought fatally shot man was 'holding a bomb'

Mr Ciolac died after being shot in the lower abdomen, a post-mortem examination found

A witness who saw a man shot in a police station car park after wielding a blade at officers thought he was holding a bomb, an inquest has heard.

Jurors were told Marius Ciolac, 35, died on the morning of 7 October 2022 after he brandished a knife outside the Ascot Drive police station in Derby, while holding a cat inside a pet carrier bag.

Derby Coroner's Court heard the builder smashed the station windows and police cars with the blade before he ran towards a firearms officer and was fatally shot.

On Thursday, the inquest heard evidence from Anthony Jones, a contracts manager, who saw Mr Ciolac looking "obviously agitated" from his office, which overlooked the police compound.

He told the inquest: "He was always very aggressive in his manner, he was always wielding the knife.

"I thought 'is it a bomb in the bag?' because it was as if he was using the bag as a threat. He was an aggressive man with a bag, approaching people with it."

'Face to face'

Det Insp Kane Martin, who tried to encourage Mr Ciolac to drop the knife outside the police station, also considered the bag might have an explosive weapon inside.

He told the court: "He was holding the knife and the bag together. At first I was concerned there might be a bomb in there.

"As he is closing down the 30 to 40 metre (98ft to 131ft) distance between him and I, he's hitting the front of the bag with the knife, and I became aware there's a cat."

Mr Martin also told the inquest he came "face to face" with Mr Ciolac, who was stabbing the knife at a fence that separated them.

Jurors were told two firearms officers arrived at the police station within minutes of Mr Ciolac entering the car park through a sliding metal gate.

They heard that officers, who used a stun grenade, a baton round and Tasers to try to disarm Mr Ciolac, repeatedly told him to drop the knife, but he did not follow their orders.

The inquest had heard that Mr Ciolac, originally from Romania, was taken to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where he died at 11:25 GMT that day.

The inquest continues.