Officers did not contribute to Shropshire farm worker's death, police say
Officers did all they could to help a father-of-two who shot himself following an armed stand-off, police have said.
Farm worker James Massey, aged 35, died in the courtyard of his home in Hungerford, near Craven Arms, south Shropshire, on December 10 last year.
A jury delivered a unanimous conclusion of suicide after an inquest on Thursday.
Mr Massey's family had been concerned over the actions of officers on the scene, but today West Mercia Police said it had done "all it could under difficult circumstances".
Superintendent Jason Wells, policing area commander for Shropshire, said they tried everything to persuade Mr Massey to put his gun down.
He said: "Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of James Massey.
“There was no police action in this case which caused or materially contributed to the death of James.
“The officers who were involved did all they could in difficult circumstances trying to persuade him to put his gun down.
“The independent IPCC investigation found that officers had followed national guidance and considered the safety of everyone who was there that night."
Following the inquest Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Coroner John Ellery said he would write to the chief constable of West Mercia Police over the use of body-worn video cameras on officers’ vests that can record incidents.
Superintendent Wells said: “As part of the investigation, the IPCC recommended that we review our recording equipment, as, on this occasion the recording function did not activate.
"We have carried out this review and our ability to ensure incidents of this nature are recorded has been reinforced with the roll out of body-worn video to all of our frontline officers."
During the inquest, the jury heard that Mr Massey and his partner had argued the night before the incident.
He had been drinking, the inquest heard.
Armed police arrived at around 3am after a report from his partner saying that he was threatening to kill himself.
Officers felt they were making progress but he shot himself later that morning.
Mr Ellery said that Mr Massey’s family had some concerns about how the police had handled the situation, but he said there was no evidence that anything the police did or did not do had caused or contributed to Mr Massey’s death.
