Barrister death: File passed to CPS

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it had completed its investigation into the fatal shooting of Mark Saunders in Chelsea, west London, in May last year.

It will now pass a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration.

The IPCC said in a statement: "As in all IPCC cases, the investigation report was passed to an IPCC commissioner to decide whether the case should be referred to the CPS. On this occasion Commissioner Tom Davies decided that the case did meet the criteria for referral, under the Police Reform Act 2002."

Mr Saunders, 32, was shot dead by Metropolitan Police marksmen at his home in Markham Square, Chelsea, on May 6 last year.

Investigators said he was armed with a shotgun and exchanged fire with members of Scotland Yard's elite CO19 specialist firearms unit three times. He also hit a house opposite with bullets as he roamed through part of the three-storey Georgian terrace. Shop workers and customers in the nearby Kings Road were forced to lock themselves in as armed police filled the streets.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Saunders was hit at least five times and shot in the head, the heart and liver by bullets fired from several weapons.

The IPCC launched an investigation into the incident, as is routine in police shootings.

But Mr Saunders' relatives soon questioned why it was necessary for him to be shot dead as they said he posed no threat to the public. The barrister's family went to the High Court seeking judicial review in a bid to have the IPCC inquiry into his death declared unlawful.

They argued the practice of allowing firearms officers to confer about their accounts gives rise to the risk of collusion. Mr Justice Underhill dismissed the claim but expressed concern about the practice of allowing police officers to confer. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) later issued revised guidelines on the practice of conferring.