Man shot by police on M62 was 'active criminal', inquest hears

Yassar Yaqub was shot dead by police on the M62

Police intelligence suggested that a man fatally shot by an armed officer on the M62 in West Yorkshire was a "highly active criminal", an inquest has heard.

Yassar Yaqub was shot when the Audi car he was travelling in was stopped near Huddersfield in January 2017.

The jury inquest was told an armed officer leant out of his window and fired three shots at Mr Yaqub.

Two of the bullets hit him in the chest and caused "catastrophic blood loss", jurors at Leeds Crown Court heard.

The inquest had previously heard a loaded pistol was found in the footwell under the front passenger seat, where Mr Yaqub had been when he was shot.

On Wednesday, a West Yorkshire Police officer, referred to only as D4 to protect his identity, confirmed he had been appointed the "strategic firearms commander" for a police operation relating to Mr Yaqub on 31 October, 2016 - two months prior to the M62 incident.

Officer D4 told the court Operation Fillview was in response to intelligence showing Mr Yaqub and another man had been "making threats" to a man called Yasser Adalat. and that Mr Yaqub had intended to cause him "serious harm".

'Access to firearms'

The jury was also shown another document which said: "Recent intelligence shows that Yaqub is a highly active criminal."

The officer confirmed he had granted a "standing authority" for deploying firearms officers in relation to the operation, which aimed to disrupt organised criminality, protect the public and "the right to life of Yasser Adalat".

The jury was also shown an email to Officer D4 from another officer thanking him for granting an "armed authority" for the operation.

The car Mr Yaqub was travelling in was stopped near Junction 24 at Huddersfield

Officer D4 had written: "I confirm the authority to deploy armed officers as I have reason to suppose that officers will have to protect themselves from persons who have possession of or immediate access to firearms."

He told the court he "would have been failing in my duty not to put a plan in place" based on the intelligence, and said Mr Adalat was wanted by police for an unrelated matter.

"We were actively trying to arrest the potential victim, Yasser Adalat, but we couldn't find that individual so couldn't put that mitigating action in place," the officer told the court.

On Tuesday, Mr Yaqub's father, Mohammed Yaqub, told the hearing his son was "well respected in the community and never out of employment".

He fought back tears as he said: "He was a natural father, he loved [his children] with his whole heart and taught them to be kind to others."

The inquest continues.

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