Streatham terrorist was shot dead in a ‘split-second decision’ by undercover police, inquest hears

A Streatham terrorist was shot dead in a ‘split-second decision’ by undercover police, an inquest has heard.

Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police in Streatham High Road on February 2 last year after stabbing a man and a woman with a stolen knife.

In the 62 seconds before the shooting, Amman stabbed the two passers-by after grabbing a blade from the display of the Low Cost hardware store in Streatham High Road.

The 20-year-old, from Queensbury, had been released from HMP Belmarsh 10 days earlier, having served half of a 40-month sentence for obtaining and distributing material for terrorist purposes.

While serving time in prison, Amman had attempted to radicalise other prisoners.

He also declared his allegiance to the Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr Al-Qurayshi Al-Baghdadi and spoke of a desire to kill the Queen.

Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, took the jury through CCTV that showed Amman leaving his probation hostel at 1.22pm on February 2, smiling and talking to a member of staff before walking across the back yard.

Amman was dressed in a camouflage jacket with a red hood, a beanie hat, and a black tunic over grey jogging bottoms.

He arrived in Streatham High Road at 1.47pm followed by a nine-member police surveillance team.

Footage from inside a Holland and Barrett store at 1.58pm showed two undercover officers with their arms up, holding Glock handguns in the firing position as they pursued Amman.

Worried pedestrians ran into a Boots store and seconds later Amman was seen running at full speed towards two officers – referred to as BX87 and BX75 – before falling to the ground.

“Sudesh Aman moved towards them with the knife held out in his right hand, closing an already short distance between them,” Mr Hough said.

The senior officer in the team, referred to as BX113, pulled out of a side street in a grey Audi SUV with his lights flashing and siren on as BX87 moved forward to kick the knife out of the way, the hearing was told.

“He falls to the ground when he is struck by bullets,” Mr Hough said.

“As he lies on the floor, he is initially waving his arms and his legs, apparently wildly, and then in smaller movements, before he lies motionless.”

A passenger on the nearby 201 bus filmed as Amman’s male victim was treated, lying on the ground outside Cash Converters.

Another officer then arrived in a black BMW and grabbed a medical bag from the boot to treat the victim shortly before a marked armed response vehicle attended with unformed firearms officers.

The three response officers, armed with Heckler and Koch carbines, approached with BX75 to check Amman and one of them said “He’s got a vest” and then “Everyone move”.

A CCTV camera near Boots showed officers BX86 and BX89 warning members of the public to stay away.

At 2.46pm an explosives officer arrived, put on rubber gloves, but no helmet, and checked Amman, before cutting empty bottles covered in foil from a belt where he had attached them with brown packing tape.

The officer disappeared, then moved back in and patted down Amman’s clothing before walking away at 3.15pm, leaving the body in a pool of blood on the pavement.

Four minutes later, two armed officers with helmets and a shield approached with two paramedics who turned Amman over and pronounced life extinct at 3.24pm.

Neil Sheldon QC, for the Metropolitan Police, said that when Amman turned on the officers he was around 8ft to 10ft away – then within half a second he was just 3ft from them.

“Does it follow that if the officer had hesitated for even a fraction of a second, Amman would have been on to him?” Mr Sheldon asked.

“Correct,” DC Lorraine Simpson, who compiled the CCTV, replied.

The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice continues.