Policeman who killed suspect cleared of murder

 A policeman who shot a suspect six times has been cleared of murder ten years after the incident.

The former police marksman, Anthony Long, 58 who has previously killed two others suspects was cleared for the murder of Azelle Rodney, 24 as he claims the four shots to the head and two others were fired in self-defence.

Despite Long’s admittance of not seeing a weapon on Rodney, he said the suspects movements convinced him he was going to fire at him and the other officers present at the time of the incident. However, his account was formerly rejected by following an official inquiry who had found the former policeman guilty of unlawfully killing the 24 year old in Edgeware, north London.

Officers at the scene said they had intelligence to link Rodney to a gang who were thought to be armed in a car which was ultimately stopped. Susan Alexander, the mother of Rodney protested against the officer’s approach and said her son should’ve been arrested, not killed.

“He did not deserve to die and we do not have a death penalty in this country,” she said.

Following the verdict, Long said: “It has been very difficult facing trial for something that happened 10 years ago when I had acted to protect the lives of others as a part of my job and based on my training and experience.”

 “Police firearms officers do not go out intending to shoot people and, like me in this case, have to make split-second life or death decisions based on the information available to them at the time.”

However, Long stuck by his decision to kill Rodney and said: “All I had was seconds to make the decision whether I was going to let my colleagues be shot by someone with a submachine gun or whether I was going to take life. I chose to take his life. That was the decision I made and I stand by it.”

This follows a long-standing trend within Britain where officers are acquitted and cleared of murdering suspects. The two officers who killed Jean Charles de Menezez in the same year where not charged for his murder. Likewise, the marksman who shot and killed Mark Duggan in 2011, an event which sparked riots across the country was also not charged.

Alexander said: “They have walked away from the car with their lives and my son has not.”

London-based social analyst, Adam Hurst calls Long the Jihadi John of British police saying there is no much difference between the police approach to killing and that which has been practiced by ISIL terrorists. 

"In fact British police officers kill suspects with exactly the same attitude as ISIL. There is no apprehension, no questioning, just a straight summery execution and again there is another black man," he said. 

He blamed the media for not pressing ahead with the case saying the victim's mother was waiting for ten years for apology from police which doesn't happened. 

He went on saying that " What's concerning is that this police has also shot dead other suspects but the evidence wasn't given during the trial and the public inquiry wasn't followed at all."

Hurst emphasized that the trial was absolutely absurd adding that:"What's important to remember here are three facts:  There is nothing to indicate that the suspect was a threat, the court verdict did nothing to reflect on the public inquiry and the third key fact is that its another case that shows uniformed killers are protected."

Meanwhile, Human Rights Activist William Spring said the decision is deeply rooted in the history of UK police. He said there are other similar cases in which police officers have been cleared of murders despite evidence against them.

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