Shoot to kill: Police in line to get greater legal protection under security review

A senior government source said: 'There can be no room for hesitation when lives are at risk'

Armed police at St Pancras International Station in London (PA)

Armed police could get greater legal protection if they shoot terrorists and other suspects under plans being considered by the Government, according to reports.

Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered a review of the current shoot-to-kill policy amid concerns officers fear prosecution if they pull the trigger, senior government sources told the Sunday Times.

Concerns were raised during a meeting of the National Security Council over how to protect the British public from a Paris-style attack. But the review could be considered controversial since it will cover all police firearms use, not just that in counter-terrorism operations.

It comes after an officer was arrested and interviewed under caution as part of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry into the death of Jermaine Baker.

The 28-year-old, from north London, died from a single gunshot wound during an operation against an alleged attempt to spring two convicts from a prison van near Wood Green.

A senior government source said: “Terrorist incidents both at home and abroad have shown very clearly the life-and-death decisions police officers have to make in split-second circumstances.

“We must make sure that when police take the ultimate decision to protect the safety of the public they do so with the full support of the law and the state — there can be no room for hesitation when lives are at risk.”

In November Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, insisted on LBC radio that there was no shoot-to-kill policy in the UK.

He said: “I can make it clear that we do not have a shoot-to-kill policy. The law says that the police can use reasonable force, firstly to stop a crime, and secondly, to arrest someone who is putting someone else in danger. If someone’s life is at risk, a police officer can intervene. If they are armed or otherwise so dangerous, we can stop them.” He added that officers “work within the law”.

According to the reports, the Home Office will head the review alongside the attorney-general and the Ministry of Justice.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has previously voiced reservations over shoot to kill, told the newspaper that politicians “have to be very, very careful”.

Mr Corbyn added: "If you want the public as a whole to have confidence in the police force and confidence they can co-operate with them in the future, any shooting on the street diminishes that confidence.

"There has to be a very robust and strong independent inquiry into what the police do. Like any other public organisation they must be held to account. I hope this is not a political stunt."

Additional reporting by PA