Officer's only option to shoot - lawyer

BY IAN STEWARD

The Christchurch police officer who shot Stephen Bellingham effectively ruled out any option less than deadly force by rushing to the scene without telling his backup, a coroner's inquest has been told.

Officer A, a Christchurch police officer with 35 years experience, momentarily broke down in the witness box yesterday as he recounted killing Bellingham in September 2007 after the 37-year-old advanced on him with a hammer.

Officer A's emotion mirrored that of the Bellingham family, who wept in the public gallery in the Christchurch Coroner's Court.

The officer, the senior field supervisor that night, was cleared by an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) investigation.

However, counsel for the Bellingham family, Simon Clay, put it to the officer that the authority noted he had "effectively removed other options".

"You really had no option once you got yourself into that position, did you?"

The officer maintained he was protecting the public and "my tactical options were dictated by Mr Bellingham".

Bellingham was clearly unstable and breaking into a car on Stanmore Rd.

The officer said he could not see if there was anyone in the car.

He needed to confront Bellingham as there were members of the public present, and Bellingham could easily have turned on one of them, the officer said.

Flatmates told Coroner Brandt Shortland about Bellingham's deteriorating psychological state in the days before his death.

Uncharacteristically, he was drinking heavily, taking drugs, and staying up for nights on end.

The flatmates said he would sharpen knives, speak in Maori and talk about "Ngati Kiwi Iwi" – his idea for a political organisation.

He told a flatmate he had devices in his head and that people were stalking him.

The day before his death, Bellingham took party pills and said "I'm not of this world".

He said he was packing to go to Jerusalem "to kill some Muslims".

On September 26, he attacked a flatmate's van outside their Avonside Dr flat.

Police were called, and Bellingham fled towards Stanmore Rd.

Two constables responded, with Officer A following in another car.

When the constables arrived at the flat, police communications told them Bellingham was on Stanmore Rd.

Officer A sped off without communicating his plans to his junior staff.

The officer said he assumed the constables would follow.

He planned to make a triangle around Bellingham and subdue him.

Witnesses confirmed Officer A's account.

The officer said he stopped about a car length from where Bellingham was rummaging inside a Subaru Impreza as the car alarm sounded.

Armed with a Glock pistol, the officer confronted Bellingham, who turned towards him in an "aggressive and menacing" manner. When Officer A said he was armed, Bellingham appeared to comply and moved to the front of the Subaru.

He then rummaged in a bag and suddenly advanced on the officer with a hammer raised above his head.

"He closed the distance very fast. All I could think of was that he was going to smash my head with a hammer," the officer said.

The officer took several steps back and fired four shots from about two metres, striking Bellingham once in the thigh and once in the chest.

He died almost instantly.

Clay put the IPCA's finding to Officer A that had he communicated with the constables they could have worked together to overpower Bellingham.

"[The constables] were unprotected. I needed to go forward and contain the offender," the officer replied.

He disagreed that using a gun was his first resort. "The first resort was the presence of the police car. The second resort was my voice."

Constable Gregory Beer, one of the two who had gone to Avonside Dr, said he supported Officer A's actions in confronting Bellingham alone. "Our primary role is to protect the public and there were plenty of people standing around.

"It doesn't take long for someone to run at [an] individual and do something to them."

The inquest continues today.

- © Fairfax NZ News