Body camera not turned on before police officer shot man, inquest told

Forensics staff and police officers stand at the scene near Great Scotland Yard

A City of London Police officer did not turn on his body-worn camera before he shot a man armed with two knives, an inquest has heard.

Hassan Yahya, 30, was shot and killed in Westminster on 8 March 2020.

A hearing at Inner West London Coroner's Court was told on Monday the officer had thought his "life was in danger" before the shooting.

He told the inquest his failure to turn on his camera was an "error" he was formally disciplined for.

The inquest heard a Metropolitan Police officer tried to Taser Mr Yahya in Northumberland Avenue at about 11:30 GMT, before he moved towards Great Scotland Yard.

The firearms officer, who has been given anonymity by the court, was responding to a request for "urgent assistance" involving a man said to be holding two knives.

After arriving at the scene he got out of the vehicle and was intending to go behind it to "establish a containment position", he told the hearing.

The officer said when he saw Mr Yahya's "demeanour" and the two knives he thought, "I'm not going anywhere", deciding to take a "stable shooting position" instead.

He told the court Mr Yahya was "sweating, eyes staring", with his "stance almost like a boxing stance".

"He had a knife in each hand. One hand was raised, the other was down towards his waist, he was rocking from one foot to the other," the officer said.

'I thought I would get stabbed'

"As soon as I locked eyes on him, as I'm making that assessment I say, 'armed police stand still, drop those knives, drop those knives'," he told the hearing.

The officer continued by saying he was roughly four or five metres away and Mr Yahya "made no reaction at all other than looking at me, looking at my weapon, then looking left and right".

He then told the court Mr Yahya "made a sudden, very sudden" movement, "running essentially, towards me".

"At the time I thought I was going to get stabbed, as he started running his hand came up," he said.

"I'd been a police officer 10 and a half years and know from training and other incidents - that distance; that [a] subject can close that gap in less than a second, so at that point I thought my life was in danger.

"I thought I was going to get stabbed, so I fired one shot."

The officer said he aimed for the "central mass", Mr Yahya fell and he then heard the "crackle" of a Taser.

The time between stepping out of the vehicle and taking action was about three to four seconds, he added.

The officer said other police officers approached Mr Yahya while he "retained cover" until his colleagues made the call "subject secure", and he assisted with first aid afterwards.

Ifeanyi Odogwu, representing Mr Yahya's family, put to the officer that he did not activate his body-worn footage, which he said was correct.

The officer said: "It's not only inappropriate, it's an error for which I have been formally disciplined."

But the officer did not agree his actions were "completely, totally disproportionate".

The inquest continues.

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