Ali Dizaei evidence over shooting

Disgraced officer Ali Dizaei will give written evidence to an inquest into the death of a barrister at the hands of police marksmen.

The former Scotland Yard commander was in overall command of an armed siege in Markham Square, Chelsea, on the evening of 6 May, 2008.

Mark Saunders, 32, was killed in a hail of police bullets after firing a shotgun from the windows of his home.

An inquest into his death, expected to last up to three weeks, will open on Monday at Westminster Council House, in Marylebone.

Westminster Coroner's Court confirmed last night that a written statement by Dizaei, the operation's "gold commander", will be admitted in evidence next Tuesday. Inquest staff did discuss whether Dizaei could give live evidence about his actions by video link from prison.

He is serving a four-year jail sentence after a jury convicted him of attempting to frame an Iraqi businessman for assaulting him in a row over a vanity website.

The inquest will also hear from Mr Saunders' widow, Elizabeth, and the seven officers who fired the fatal shots.

They will give their evidence anonymously after Coroner Dr Paul Knapman agreed that publicising their names could put them in danger and harm their work.

Mr Saunders' family has been highly critical of the actions of the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

They said he was not a threat and more should have been done to take detain him alive, including allowing Mrs Saunders to speak to him. The inquest will begin on Monday at Westminster Coroner's Court, sitting at Westminster Council House, in Marylebone.