Image caption Mr Colwell was driving a stolen car when he was shot

The inquest into the death of a man shot by police in County Down has heard there were six people in the car he was driving, and he had been speeding.

Steven Colwell, 23, was shot after he failed to stop at a checkpoint in Ballynahinch on 16 April 2006.

His death was originally investigated by the Police Ombudsman, who found the actions of the officer who shot Mr Colwell were "critically flawed".

This finding was rejected by the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI).

James Holmes, who was in the car, sitting directly behind Mr Colwell on the day he was shot was giving evidence at Laganside courts.

He said he met Mr Colwell in the Shankill area of Belfast in the early hours of 16 April, after a night out in "the city centre".

Mr Colwell was driving a silver BMW and asked Mr Holmes if he wanted to go for a drive and meet some friends at a caravan

Mr Holmes said he assumed the BMW was Mr Colwell's, but he did not ask.

Mr Holmes denied claims Steven Colwell had been drinking in the car, although barristers pointed out that this contradicted evidence he had given in a police interview in 2006.

Also in the 2006 interview, Mr Holmes said the pair had smoked cannabis at the caravan. However, when reminded of this, Mr Holmes told the court he had no recollection of smoking drugs.

The court heard that they had stayed at the caravan for about two hours and had a few drinks.

They then decided to go back to Belfast and some girls got in the car with them.

Mr Holmes said that, as they approached Ballynahinch, he saw "some Peelers and a checkpoint", and he warned Mr Colwell.

'Gut instinct'

He said he had a "gut instinct" they would be stopped because there were six people in the car, and they had been speeding.

Mr Colwell tried to turn the car but they were blocked by another vehicle.

Mr Holmes said police then surrounded the car: "One in front in a white shirt with a handgun, and two in riot-type gear with MP5 (submachine) guns".

He said the officer in the white shirt went to the passenger side door and told the occupants to put their hands up. He then went towards the bonnet and adopted a firing position.

Mr Holmes said he told the others to get down saying: "He's gonna shoot". Then a shot rang out.

He said Mr Colwell said: "He's shot me, he's shot me lads."

Mr Colwell got halfway out of the car when a second shot was fired, Mr Holmes said.

Mr Holmes was asked to clarify if the handbrake had been applied in the BMW.

He replied that he was "100% sure" the handbrake was on.

"We would have rolled back down the slope if it hadn't been," he said.

A lawyer told the court police evidence contradicted some of the evidence it had heard.

For example, crime scene sketches indicated there was not enough space for the officer in the white shirt to walk from the passenger side to the bonnet, as Mr Holmes had said, and glass fragments at the scene suggested the car had possibly moved.

Tyres

Mr Holmes said after the shooting he asked police officers why they had not shot the tyres, and an officer responded that they were not trained to shoot tyres.

He could not identify this officer.

The court heard that Mr Holmes told the ombudsman investigation in 2006 that he believed the officer in the white shirt had, in his words, "split the scene to get his story in".