An investigation into the fatal police shooting of a 28-year-old man on a motorway has concluded that no officer committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings.
Yassar Yaqub was the passenger in an Audi car when he was shot dead after the vehicle was stopped by officers at junction 24 of the M62 in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on January 2, 2017.
On Friday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said its final report into the incident will not be published until after an inquest which is scheduled for January 2022.
Steve Noonan, the IOPC’s director of major investigations, said the report had been shared with Mr Yaqub’s family, West Yorkshire Police and the coroner.
He said: “Our investigation was comprehensive and detailed.
“Police were treated as witnesses throughout the investigation and the report did not indicate that any officer may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.”
Mr Noonan said the progress of the investigation was impacted by the trial in 2018 of the man who was driving the Audi, Mohsin Amin.
Amin was jailed for 18 years after being involved in a conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition on the day of the incident.
Mr Noonan said on Friday: “Due to the investigation’s complexity, as well as a parallel criminal investigation and subsequent trial in late 2018 which restricted our access to a number of key witnesses, there was an inevitable impact on when we could finalise our investigation.
“We recognise that this will have affected Mr Yaqub’s family.
“It would not be appropriate for the IOPC to publish a report or provide further information until the inquest is concluded. As always, our thoughts remain with all those affected by Mr Yaqub’s death.”
Mr Yaqub’s father, Mohammed Yaqub, has always protested his son’s innocence and the case has provoked protests by his supporters.
Amin, of Broomer Street, Dewsbury, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
The judge, Mr Justice Turner, told him: “You knew that Yassar Yaqub had a gun, which you both intended should be used in a way that endangered life in a preconceived and imminent way.”
The trial heard how four unmarked police cars had surrounded the vehicle at the motorway junction and how the officer who fired the fatal round saw Mr Yaqub holding a weapon and felt that he was an imminent danger.
Jurors heard how officers discovered a fully loaded and operational Russian Baikal pistol under the passenger seat of the Audi, as well as a silencer and a bag of plastic ammunition in the glove compartment.
