Yassar Yaqub inquest: Man shot dead on M62 by police was lawfully killed, jury finds

Yassar Yaqub was shot dead by police on the M62 in 2017

A man shot dead by police on a motorway was lawfully killed, an inquest found.

Yassar Yaqub, 28, was shot by an armed officer when the Audi car he was travelling in was stopped on the M62 near Huddersfield in January 2017.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court said the officer who shot Mr Yaqub "honestly believed... his life was in danger and he used reasonable force discharging his firearm".

His father Mohammed Yaqub said the family were considering a challenge.

Mr Yaqub and three other men were under surveillance by West Yorkshire Police.

The jury was told the Audi was rammed by an unmarked police car to stop it and 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".

The officer who fired the fatal shots told the jury he had "no other alternative", saying Mr Yaqub pointed a gun at him before he fired.

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

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".

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

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 said if he had not opened fire he "would have been shot" otherwise.

In a statement, Mr Yaqub's father Mohammed Yaqub said: "We are shocked and do not understand the verdict that this was lawful killing. We believe Yassar was unlawfully killed by V39. He was killed for no good reason. My family and I were cruelly robbed of Yassar. The chance to say our last words was missed.

He added: "We believe the coroner's decision not to allow the jury to consider whether Yassar was unlawfully killed was gravely wrong. The jury is the decision maker; not the coroner. The coroner has created injustice by not allowing the jury to decide these things - he has just decided what happened himself.

"We are actively considering our options with our legal team about whether to challenge this decision."

Mr Yaqub's father Mohammed Yaqub said the family were "shocked" by the outcome of the inquest

West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable John Robins said: "The loss of life in any circumstances is, of course, tragic and our sympathies remain with the Yaqub family for the loss of their loved one.

"But I also want to acknowledge how difficult the past five to six years have also been for the officers and staff who were directly involved.

"This has been a constant in their lives, from the incident itself, the criminal prosecutions, the investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and finally the recent inquest itself."

The IOPC said its investigation found the officer "gave a clear and credible account, which was strongly supported by other evidence, explaining the use of force to IOPC investigators".

"Based on the available information, we considered the use of force to be necessary and reasonable in the circumstances as he genuinely and reasonably believed them to be," it added.