'I had to fire to save mine and others' lives' Police marksman has no regrets about fatal shooting.

Byline: By Urmee Khan

THE POLICE marksman who fired the shot which killed a man in Northumberland said yesterday he did not regret his actions.

Mark Scott was killed in 2005 by a single shot from a police marksman while standing at the window of his home in Stocksfield.

Yesterday PC Mark Melvin said: "I was looking through the sights of the rifle at him and he was looking down the shotgun at me.

I was terrified. I thought I was going to die. I squeezed the trigger as hard as I could.

"I had no other option but to fire" he told an inquest in Newcastle yesterday.

Scott had barricaded himself in his home after firing a gun at ex-wife Shirley.

Scott, 42, was then killed by PC Melvin while standing at the window of his home in Kimberley Gardens on July 16.

On that evening PC Melvin, who was based in Jarrow, got a call from Sgt Nigel Dance for assistance. Four patrol cars went to 6 Kimberley Gardens.

PC Melvin described the moments leading up to the shooting. "I saw him in the top right of the window. I was using scope on rifle and the zoom looked into the room" He said Scott made a reference to explosive bombs and then punched the window out. PC Melvin said: "I felt the situation escalate. Usually after negotiation the threat is lowered but with Mr Scott, the threat level rose.

"Mr Scott then said, you're going meet Betsy, which in my mind is colloquial for a shot gun." PC Melvin said:

"Mr Scott was in a heightened state and he was very very agitated and he leant to his right and picked up a barrel and held it by his side. It looked like a black barrelled object. I believed whole heartedly that it was a shot gun."

PC Melvin, who has now moved to Vancouver, Canada, told the jury that he had five years training with special firearms unit, prior to 2005 and the unit had tests every 16 weeks and mandatory training every eight weeks. He explained that he would normally carry a 9mm Glock 17 pistol, and a HKG 36 carbine which is a short-armed rifle and a stun gun with a 12 inch barrel which fires rubber bullets.

PC Melvin said he removed the safety catch from his gun when Scott raised his shotgun.

"I adjusted and regulated my breathing and was preparing myself that I was going to have to take a shot," he said.

He told the jury that he was trained to hit the chest to "remove threat by disrupting body function" when coroner David Mitford asked whether that meant serious damage or death.

PC Melvin then said: "We've all seen movies with people looking through binoculars and something catches your eye and its someone looking at you - that is what happened to me. I was looking through the rifle at him and he was looking down the shotgun at me. I was terrified, I thought I was going to die. I squeezed the trigger as hard as I could.

"I thought Mr Scott had discharged first and I put my head down and expected to be shot. Nothing happened. When I opened my eyes, he was gone.

"I believed he picked me out and he would shoot me. I was absolutely terrified.

In my mind it was a standard shotgun."

When the coroner asked 'did you feel you had an alternative?', PC Melvin said: "No even two and half years later, in hindsight I had no other option but to fire. I had to remove that threat to myself and my colleagues."

The inquest continues.

CAPTION(S):

STANDOFF: Police at the scene in Kimberley Gardens, Stocksfield.; SHOOTING SCENE: Mark Scott was shot after barricading himself in his home.; FATALLY SHOT: Mark Scott.