Police officer lawfully shot dead armed man in Swindon- inquest jury finds
An inquest into the death of Graham Trinder concluded he was shot 'lawfully'.
Last updated 28th Feb 2025
A man holding an air rifle who was shot dead by armed police following a drunken row with a neighbour was lawfully killed, an inquest jury has concluded.
Graham Trinder, 57, suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest during the incident in the early hours of November 8th 2020 in Swindon.
Mr Trinder, who was known as Tommy, was shot outside his home in Summers Street, Rodbourne, and pronounced dead at the scene.
The armed officer who shot Mr Trinder said he only fired because he feared for his life after the father-of-two moved the .22 weapon towards him.
An inquest jury at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court returned a conclusion of lawful killing after a three-day hearing.
"On November 8 2020 at approximately 2.06amGraham Trinder was shot in the chest," they said.
"The shot proved to be fatal, and Graham Trinder was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.55am by paramedics."
During the inquest, the officer, who is only known by the pseudonym AL/1, told the court: "I was terrified, the most scared I've been in my career to date. I thought I was going to die."
He said Mr Trinder came out of a house carrying a "long-barrelled rifle with a scope", which looked like a hunting rifle.
"The training has taken over. I've challenged him and I've drawn my Glock and pointed my Glock at him and started shouting and screaming at him to put the gun down," the officer said.
"I tell him to put the f** gun down, repeatedly. There would have been multiple shouts, 'armed police put the f** gun down'.
"For whatever reason, Mr Trinder takes the rifle into his shoulder and he's in a proper stable shooting position and starts bringing it around towards me in a deliberate aimed action.
"My impression of it was he's going to f** kill me here, he's going to shoot me in the face. He can see I'm wearing body armour, and I can remember thinking all these things.
"As he brings the weapon round towards me, I made the decision to fire, and I fired one round into his chest."
Mr Trinder had been drinking with his neighbours when a drunken dispute broke out between him and another man, which resulted in the police being called.
Residents in Summers Street described witnessing the incident and the armed officer repeatedly telling Mr Trinder to put down the weapon.
Neighbour Richard Fitzsimmons described hearing the officer shout repeated warnings to Mr Trinder.
"After the officer had shouted warnings, Graham, who was still swaying, appeared to point the rifle at the officer," he said.
"I couldn't tell if he did this deliberately or if it was because he'd been drinking. He didn't bring the rifle up to a shooting position.
"The rifle was always held at his waist and when it was pointed at the officer, or in the direction of the officer, it was still at his waist.
"I then heard a loud bang. It all happened very fast."
A post-mortem examination found Mr Trinder died from a gunshot wound to the chest from a police issue Glock pistol.
He was found to have blood alcohol level equivalent to four times the drink-drive limit, and there were also traces of recent use of cocaine.
Wiltshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith said: “First and foremost, our sincerest condolences remain with Mr Trinder’s family and friends.
"Whilst incidents of this nature are thankfully incredibly rare in Wiltshire, this does not diminish the impact they have on all involved and the wider communities in which they take place.
“Following this incident, the Independent Office for Police Conduct carried out a thorough and independent investigation.
"This is something that the public rightly expect and deserve.
"We provided our full support to the IOPC investigation.
"Having reviewed footage of the incident and statements from those involved, the IOPC determined that the use of force was reasonable in the circumstances.
“This determination has been reinforced through the verdict of the jury in this inquest.
“Ultimately, no firearms officer ever wants to discharge their weapon – all officers swear an oath to protect the public.
"Our firearms officers are highly trained to make split-second decisions in extremely pressurised circumstances.
"We have provided ongoing support to the officers involved in this case and will continue to support them following today’s decision.
“During the Inquest, the Coroner made the direction to issue part of the Body Worn Video covering the incident to the media.
"We welcome the public transparency this allows.
"However, our thoughts and condolences remain with Mr Trinder's family and friends.
“We fully appreciate the impact that the inquest process might have on our local communities.
"It will, undoubtedly, bring back some difficult memories for those who were living in the area closest to the incident in 2020.
“Our collective focus, therefore, remains on supporting these communities and I would urge the local community to reach out to their Neighbourhood Policing Team at this time.”