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A rookie firearms officer fell over and shot one of the London Bridge terrorists through his legs as he feared for his life, an inquest heard.

The City of London Police officer, known as BX44, told jurors how confronting Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, was his first spontaneous shoot-out.

As he got out at Stoney Street at Borough Market, he saw three Asian men with large knives emerging from a crowd "closing us down", he said.

He fired first at Butt because he thought he was about to kill his colleague BX46, who was first out of their Armed Response Vehicle.

Giving evidence anonymously at the Old Bailey, BX44 said he first shot at Butt thinking he was about to target a colleague.

"The red dot (from the gun's sights) was on him but there was very little reaction and I was surprised he was still coming,” he said.

"I continued to track him and fire shots until I had to break away to deal with Rachid Redouane who at this point was closing us down and was about to kill another colleague, BX45.

"The red dot was on him. I fired shots and there was no immediate reaction.

“I carried on firing until I had to deal with the third threat of Youssef Zaghba who was on top of me.

"I was backing away trying to create a reactionary gap when I fired and fell backwards and as I fell backwards I fired and from the floor I fired through my legs up to his chest.

"I thought he was about to kill me."

BX44 told how minutes after the first burst of gunfire, he saw Butt's chest rise and fall.

He said: "I did not see his hands but his arms started to move down slowly towards the suicide vest.

"I thought he was going to detonate. I fired shots. They were aimed shots."

When the call came in of pedestrians being struck by a van on London Bridge, he said he "feared the worst" - a copycat terror attack like the one at Westminster three months before.

On route to the scene, Operation Plato was declared for a "marauding terrorist attack" and his role was to "identify, locate, confront and neutralise" the suspects, he said.

As they neared Stoney Street, he said he saw people with "terror, fear and concern" on their faces saying "they're stabbing people".

He told jurors that he fired a "number of shots", adding: "I stopped firing when the male fell to the floor in front of me."

BX46 told jurors: "I used lethal force to avert the danger of him detonating his device. I took an aimed shot to his head."

In all, BX46, who was the operational commander, said he discharged six rounds.

Butt, 27, Redouane, 30, and Zaghba, 22, were all shot 10 minutes after embarking on a van and knife attack which left eight dead and 48 injured.

Additional reporting by Press Association