AN inquiry into a how a man came to be shot dead in a quiet Culcheth car park nearly five years ago has been seriously preoccupying Podium this week.

Under the stewardship of Judge Thomas Teague QC, the 14-week hearing at Liverpool Crown Court is examining the circumstances surrounding the death of 36-year-old Anthony Grainger at the hands of a police marksman while sitting in a car parked off Jacksons Lane.

Several partisan views may have already been formed on the shooting – Grainger was known to police through past misdemeanours, the Audi in which he was shot dead was stolen and they suspected he was busy plotting armed robberies with three accomplices.

Quite clearly, it was emphasised in the opening addresses the marksman, who shall be known only as Q9 amid fears for his safety, believed a sudden movement by the dad-of-three as officers moved in was evidence of him reaching for his own firearm.

Lawyers representing Q9 have asserted that, had Grainger been carrying a firearm then any hesitation in reacting to the perceived threat could have proved catastrophic for himself or his fellow officers.

No gun was found either in the car though, or later at the homes of Grainger or the three other men sat in the Audi that night.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has judged the ‘intelligence’, suggesting Grainger was likely to be armed, or had been involved in armed robberies, as flawed, and labelled the police tactics on the night ‘not necessary or appropriate’.

Some of the procedural matters have baffled Podium, as someone with more than 20 years of frontline experience where courts and tribunals are concerned.

The marksman and 15 other firearms officers involved apparently declined to give witness statements under interview – everyone has a right to silence but any lawyer worth their salt in a criminal trial would remind jurors what inferences could be drawn from that approach.

And when their eventual statements were forwarded to the IPCC later, despite clear advice from the watchdog, no reference was made to them ‘conferring’ over their responses.

I once had to sit through another lengthy hearing concerning the same firearms squad, an inquest into the death of PC Ian Terry, who was shot dead at point-blank range by a police colleague during a training exercise in Manchester.

I’m reminded of the ‘cops and robbers’ scenario which was described on that occasion, where officers shot out the wheels of the ‘villain’s’ car before challenging those inside. PC Terry died from a shotgun wound to the chest. Echoes of what occurred in Culcheth are inescapable.

No criminal charges were brought against either the marksman or the force’s head Sir Peter Fahy, formerly Cheshire’s chief constable, for health and safety offences over the latest incident.

So the wheel turns again over where law enforcement goes from here when it comes to arming the thin blue line.

Searching questions for Judge Teague, who certainly knows the patch well, having previously served as a crown prosecutor for many years at Warrington.

You couldn’t pay this hack enough to engage in firearms work – on a daily basis the psychological strain encountered must be immense.

Knowing that any slip could have tragic consequences.

Any reasonable observer must hope against hope that this latest inquiry will begin to formulate some reasoned answers to some searching questions, especially with Warrington sandwiched between the increasingly gun-happy gangs of Manchester and Liverpool.