Barrister's family 'damaging Chelsea siege shooting probe'

The family of Mark Saunders, the barrister shot dead by police in Chelsea, was accused in the High Court today of jeopardising the investigation into his death.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission took the highly unusual step of criticising the relatives still grieving for Mr Saunders. He died in a hail of police bullets after a fivehour siege on 6 May.

The attack follows comments made to the Standard earlier this week by his mother. Rosemary Saunders said her son was not aiming his shotgun at police when he died at his £2.2 million flat in Markham Square.

She claimed video evidence showed he was holding his legally-owned shotgun "limply" in his left hand. The barrister, 32, had earlier fired into his neighbour's garden.

Mr Saunders's sister, Charlotte, is taking the IPCC to court in an attempt to have its investigation declared unlawful because officers were allowed to confer before making statements- - a standard practice. But Dinah Rose QC, representing the IPCC, told Mr Justice Underhill: "It is a matter of very great concern that members of the Saunders family made statements to the press purporting to describe the contents of the video.

"It was shown to the sister of Mark Saunders in confidence. What has been made public by the Saunders family is not an accurate picture of what is seen in the video."

She added that any further disclosures posed a risk of prejudicing the investigation. The case continues.