Sophie Walker was instructed in a four-week inquest before Senior Coroner in East London Coroners Court into the death of Giedrius Vasiljevas. Giedrius was fatally shot by a Metropolitan Police firearms officer on the doorstep of his home after he called the police for help.

The Senior Coroner had earlier determined that there was sufficient evidence for a conclusion of unlawful killing to be left to the jury in relation to the justification put forward for the firing of the fatal shot by a firearms officer, known in the inquest as MY78.

While the jury concluded that Giedrius had been lawfully killed, they found failings in the firearms operation which possibly contributed to his death.

After the jury had delivered their conclusions Mr Graeme Irvine, Senior Coroner for East London, seriously criticised the armed operation. He called it “at times shambolic” and observed that there was a “critical breakdown in communication” between the different teams involved. He described the evidence he heard from the police to be “quite shocking”

The Coroner was also critical of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The IOPC had failed to secure Ring doorbell footage which would have provided crucial evidence.

Following evidential discrepancies, we successfully argued on behalf of our clients that a conclusion of unlawful killing should be left to be considered the jury.

The officer that fired the fatal shot, MY78 claimed that when Giedrius emerged at the door for the second time he saw a black handgun in his left hand which he raised in the direction of himself and another officer MY27. This caused him to fear there was an immediate risk to their lives.

Despite there being seven other officers surrounding the front of the house, not one of them had seen Giedrius pointing a gun. This was highly suspect given that they were there to provide firearms cover, meaning that they were focused on the very spot where Giedrius was stood in order to assess whether he was posing a threat.

MY27 wrote in his initial statement that he saw Giedrius fall to the ground after MY78 shot him. However, he then claimed he could not recall this.

Another officer, TP21, could be heard on the radio saying “he’s waving something orange”. Giedrius was found to have a cigarette he had been smoking in his right hand. TP21 accepted he had seen Giedrius waving something orange just before he had been shot.

Expert analysis of the video footage, carried out by Forensic Architecture on behalf of our clients, confirmed it was not possible to say whether Giedrius had anything in his hands (other than a cigarette in his right hand) during the crucial moments.

Sophie was led by Una Morris at Garden Court Chambers. And instructed by Jag Bahra, Emily Hayman and Cyrilia Knight of Saunders Law.