The case of a Salford father-of-two shot dead by armed police is to be re-opened at a public inquiry, the family’s lawyer has announced.
Anthony Grainger, 36, was killed in Culcheth, Cheshire, in 2012, when he was shot by a police marksman with a Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun.
Mr Grainger was unarmed and sitting in the front seat of a stolen Audi when he was shot through the chest. He died at the scene.
Police believed he and two accomplices were planning to rob a Sainsbury’s store nearby.
The shooter, known only as Q9, has never been named by Greater Manchester Police.
It emerged later that Mr Grainger was the subject of a planned police operation.
Charges were brought against the former Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy for health and safety breaches, but dropped by the CPS in January 2015.
Watch: Anthony Grainger family speak out at CPS protest
Read: ‘No Justice for Anthony Grainger’ say family, as case collapses
Lawyers representing the Grainger family confirmed the public inquiry today.
They said “secret” evidence that stopped criminal proceedings against the former police chief from going ahead should also be laid bare.
Jonathan Bridge of Farley’s Solicitors LLP said: “We have been petitioning the Home Secretary for over a year to hold a Public Inquiry into the death of Anthony Grainger.
“We are pleased that she has today made a ministerial statement before Parliament to confirm that an inquiry will be convened.
“The family have already waited for over four years to learn the true facts surrounding Anthony’s death and are keen that there be a full and transparent inquiry with all material made available.
“The Public Inquiry should now allow such secret material to be properly considered.”
The Greater Manchester’s Mayor, also Police & Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd said it was unacceptable that progress into investigating Mr Grainger’s death had been so slow.
“Anthony Grainger’s family and the wider public deserve to know what took place during the police operation that led to his death. We are now four years on since he died.
“I have been increasingly concerned about these delays, and the corresponding lack of answers.
“It is distressing and unhelpful to the family, is unfair to the police officers involved in the operation, and does not serve the public interest.”
