Yassar Yaqub: Officer who fired fatal shots had 'no alternative'

Yassar Yaqub, 28, was shot dead by police on the M62 at junction 24 on 2 January 2017

An armed officer who fatally shot a man during a police stop on a motorway slip road has told an inquest the suspect pointed a gun at him before he fired.

Yassar Yaqub, 28, was the front-seat passenger in one of two cars travelling in convoy on the M62 when four covert police cars surrounded them in 2017.

The inquest at Leeds Crown Court previously heard an officer fired three shots at Mr Yaqub from 5ft (1.5m) away.

Two of the bullets hit him in the chest and caused "catastrophic blood loss".

On Wednesday, the hearing heard Mr Yaqub and his associates had been followed by police from Bradford towards Huddersfield, with the covert cars surrounding them at junction 24 of the M62.

The West Yorkshire Police officer, known as V39 to protect his identity, told the inquest he had "feared for my life and the life of my colleagues" when he shot Mr Yaqub.

V39 said Mr Yaqub had ignored his command to "show me your hands", and instead crouched down before bringing a handgun over the dashboard.

The officer told the inquest he had "no other alternative" but to discharge his firearm, and said he "would have been shot" otherwise.

The car Mr Yaqub was travelling in was stopped by four covert police cars

The inquest previously heard Mr Yaqub was described by police intelligence as a "highly active criminal", with V39 confirming he had been told some of the men they were tracking may have firearms.

V39 said he twisted himself out of his window and pointed his firearm into the Audi while shouting: "Armed police, show me your hands."

The officer said the driver "immediately put his hands in the air" but the passenger did not.

"Mr Yaqub leaned down towards a footwell and I would describe the motion as crouching towards the driver," V39 said.

The inquest heard he asked for Mr Yaqub to show his hands a further two times, adding: "I see his hands moving slightly together while he remained slightly crouched.

"I immediately see a handgun in one of his hands."

He continued: "I then saw the pistol grip of the handgun as that started to level its way up towards my vicinity.

"I discharged my firearm, fearing for my life and those of my colleagues."

The inquest heard V39's colleagues started attempting to resuscitate Mr Yaqub, with the officer telling the court he saw a gun in the footwell of the vehicle.

He said he looked in the Audi after he got out of his own car, saying: "I had just gone through a life-changing scenario, I had just had a firearm pointed at me and I wanted to see the firearm that had been pointed at me by Mr Yaqub."

The inquest continues.