Spencer Ashworth shot by police 'after gun threats to other drivers'

Officers shot Mr Ashworth after stopping his car near junction 19 of the M5 on 27 September 2017

A man was shot dead by armed police after firing an air pistol at one of them, an inquest has heard.

Spencer Ashworth, 29, was shot on the Portbury Hundred near Bristol in September 2017.

Avon and Somerset Police pulled over his red Suzuki car after reports he had threatened other drivers with a gun on the M5, an inquest heard.

Firearms officers discharged 15 rounds and Spencer Ashworth was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier in the day, West Mercia Police received reports of a man pointing a gun at another motorist near junction 8 of the M5.

Mr Ashworth's car was later stopped near junction 19 of the motorway.

Firearms officers stopped Mr Ashworth, who was driving alone in his red Suzuki Swift, and surrounded his car with their police vehicles at 09:32 BST

Coroner Maria Voisin said in a summary to jurors at Avon Coroner's Court that Mr Ashworth "did not comply" with instructions from the officers.

She said police "shouted instructions" for Spencer Ashworth to leave his vehicle and "place his hands where they could be seen".

"It seems the deceased, who could be seen to be alone in the car, did not comply.

"He could be seen to raise a gun in his right hand and fired what is now known to have been an air pistol at one of the attending officers", Ms Voisin said.

She told the court that four of the five officers had then "returned fire".

Mr Ashworth's family are not attending the inquest but his mother, Yvonne Maunder, said in a statement that her son had become "insular" in his late teens and would play computer games in his bedroom alone.

She said she had repeatedly gone to the family's GP to seek help for her son, whom she believed was experiencing depression, but as he was over 18 she was told he would have to attend himself.

Photographs showed what appeared to be a handgun on the roof of the car

Mrs Maunder said: "Spencer would shy away from groups of people. He thought everyone hated him. His behaviour was different from standard teenage surliness.

"He showed all the signs of depression."

He left home when he was 22 and moved between Plymouth, Bristol and Portishead.

In one email sent to his mother in August 2017, he referred to "my new James Bond air pistol" and said he had wanted to go to California "before I have to shoot it out with the police".

The inquest heard Mr Ashworth, who worked part-time as a courier, lived in his car after leaving a house-share in Portishead in 2016.

The inquest continues.