No body-worn footage of police shooting suspect

Police ask for anonymity for armed officers involved in case

Concerns have been raised over whether a suspect pointed a shotgun at police when he was shot dead.

William “Curly Bill” Smith received four gunshot wounds to the head and chest when he was cornered by armed officers in Goudhurst in May 2016, having been linked to the murder of 73-year-old Roy Blackman, from Biddenden, months earlier.

A pre-inquest review (PIR) was initially held in 2017 to deal with legal matters and the disclosure of evidence ahead of a full inquest into his death, which was due to take place with a jury in mid-2018.

Now, nearly two years on, a second PIR has been carried out at the Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, where Kent Police’s legal team made requests for officers involved in the case to remain anonymous.

Lesley Thomas, counsel for Mr Smith’s family, urged coroner Roger Hatch to keep the hearing as open as possible.

Mr Thomas cast doubt on the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s finding that Mr Smith was shot dead while aiming a shotgun at police.

He said: “There was very little forensic evidence to suggest that he was pointing a gun at the officers, except for their account.

“Unlike the majority of the country at the time, the officers involved were not wearing body worn cameras.”

Smith, 36, was on the run after being linked to the killing of Mr Blackman during a violent burglary in March 2016.

In September 2016, 38-year-old Mark Love, of Frittenden Road, Staplehurst, received a life sentence for murder.

Smith’s DNA was found at the scene, implicating him in the incident and the prosecution said if alive he would also have been put on trial.

A full inquest into the death is not expected to take place until November 2020 and could last up to six weeks.

Forensics in Goudhurst after William Smith, top right, was killed. Right: Roy Blackman