Lewis Skelton inquest: Jury retires to consider verdict

Lewis Skelton died after he was shot by police in Hull city centre in 2016

A jury at an inquest into the death of a man carrying an axe who was shot and killed by police has been sent out to consider its verdict.

Lewis Skelton, 31, was shot twice in a street in Hull in November 2016 after he failed to respond to instructions to stop, the court had previously heard.

Officers opened fire after first using Tasers with "no discernible effect".

Members of Mr Skelton's family told Hull Coroner's Court he had a history of mental health issues.

The jury had been told that Humberside Police received three 999 calls on 29 November 2016 saying a man was walking down Holderness Road carrying an axe.

Armed officers subsequently caught up with him in Francis Street in the city centre.

The officer who fired the fatal shots, who was only identified as officer B50, described how Mr Skelton failed to stop when challenged and the use of a Taser four times had no effect.

As he jogged to another street and was seen approaching some workmen, one of the officers decided there was an immediate threat and shot Mr Skelton with a pistol before restraining him. He died later in hospital.

A police cordon was put in place in Hull city centre after the incident

Coroner Oliver Longstaff told jurors they had to decide whether Mr Skelton was lawfully or unlawfully killed, or whether to return an open conclusion.

Mr Longstaff said they had to decide whether officer B50 was acting "in lawful defence of others".

In a statement read to the court, Mr Skelton's parents, Helen and Glen, described their son as a "kind man with a good heart" who had fallen in with the "wrong crowd" when he was 18 and started to take heroin, leading to mental health problems.

One of Mr Skelton's three sisters, Laura, said in a statement that her brother was "not a typical addict" and remained kind-natured, never stealing to fund his drug-taking.

Ms Skelton said: "I do not believe that Lewis deserved to die. He needed help, not killing."