Azelle Rodney murder trial: Ex-police marksman named

Anthony Long has been named after reporting restrictions were lifted at the Old Bailey

Azelle Rodney: ex-police marksman to stand trial for murder named for first time (Family Handout/PA Wire)

The former police marksman charged with the murder of Azelle Rodney has been named for the first time as Anthony Long.

Long will stand trial next June for the murder of Mr Rodney, a robbery suspect who was shot and died after police stopped the car he was in during April 2005.

Long, who was previously referred to as ‘E7’, is an ex-specialist firearms officer who served in the Metropolitan Police’s CO19 section.

He can today be named after reporting restrictions were lifted at the Old Bailey. His trial next June is expected to last for a month.

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Long’s address was given as the Police Federation Headquarters in Leatherhead, Surrey. He did not attend the hearing before Mr Justice Sweeney.

Mr Rodney, 24, died after being stopped by police while travelling in a car in Edgeware, London.

Police at the time said they feared Mr Rodney and the two men he was travelling with were armed and on their way to rob Colombian drug dealers.

Mr Rodney was shot six times, once in the arm and once in the back, and fatally four times in the head.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced it planned to charge the officer in July after reviewing new evidence following the outcome of a public inquiry into the death that found there was “no lawful justification” for the shooting.