Coroner in action call after man shot dead by police

Coroner in action call after man shot dead by police

7 December 2016

A CORONER has said he is anxious to advance an inquest into the death of a man shot by police in Ballynahinch 10 years ago.

Twenty six year-old Steven Colwell died in April 2006 after being shot by a police officer when he failed to stop his BMW car at a PSNI checkpoint outside the town’s police station.

At a preliminary hearing last week, Judge Neil Rafferty, who has recently been appointed to oversee the case, said he wanted to make progress.

He told Belfast’s Laganside Court: “I am keen to hear this and to inject some adrenaline into process.

“I am very keen to get this inquest up and running as soon as possible.”

A full inquest is expected to take place at some point next spring and will last between four and six weeks. However, a start date and venue have yet to be confirmed.

There is controversy surrounding the case because the former Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, accused the officer who shot Mr Colwell, known only as Officer O, of critically flawed judgment.

At the preliminary hearing a barrister representing the Colwell family said they had been requesting access to withheld court papers for months.

While legal teams have been allowed to see the documents, lawyers have been barred from discussing their content because of ongoing issues with redactions, the court was told.

Karen Quinlivin QC argued that the family was entitled to see them.

She said: “They are interested in reading the papers. They are very motivated and have been asking for this since September.”

Ms Quinlivin told the court the family was also still waiting for Officer O’s training records and information about PSNI policy regarding firearms.

She additionally stressed that the family objected to the inquest being held in a court outside Belfast.

Earlier, the court was told the disclosure of documentation was very advanced.

Peter Coll, representing the coroner, said a “large amount of papers” had been gathered and created during the course of the Ombudsman’s investigation.

He added that 35 folders of information had been handed to interested parties, but acknowledged that a number of others containing more sensitive material had yet to be released.

The court will also receive video material – including CCTV footage of the scene shortly after the incident taken from a police helicopter — and other images and photographs of the scene.

The case was adjourned until January 10.