Shot gunman identified by prints on police file

Alistair Bell, 42, was shot by police marksmen in the early hours of December 28, last year in the village of Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield.

The incident began at about 10pm the previous evening when uniformed officers went to his home in Cockley Hill Lane to arrest him.

At this point, Bell produced a handgun, an inquest in Huddersfield was told yesterday.

John Brennan, an investigator with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), said: “He fired a number of rounds in the direction of officers present. One of the rounds struck the officer.”

Officers were deployed to mediate.

Bell later fired more shots in the stand-off.

Mr Brennan said West Yorkshire Police had referred the matter to the IPCC and investigations were continuing.

The hearing was told yesterday that an initial post-mortem had found that Bell died of firearms injuries.

Bell’s identity was confirmed from his fingerprints held on file.

Coroner Roger Whittaker opened and adjourned an inquest into Bell’s death yesterday pending further inquiries. He released Bell’s body to his family to allow a funeral to take place.

The police officer shot by Bell, who was wearing body armour, escaped with severe bruising.