Armed officer feared cat in knifeman's bag was bomb

A firearms officer who fired a baton round at a man brandishing a knife has told an inquest he had no idea he had missed his target.

The officer gave his evidence to the inquest into Marius Ciolac's death anonymously, being referred to as Officer B.

His colleague, Officer A, had already told the hearing he had no choice but to pull the trigger, fatally shooting 35-year-old Mr Ciolac in the car park at Ascot Drive police station in Derby in October 2022.

The Romanian-born national later died in hospital.

Officer B told the inquest in Derby that he had served as a firearms officer for more than 23 years yet had never fired any of his weapons while on duty.

He and Officer A were on patrol in Normanton Road in Derby when a police radio alerted the pair to the incident in the police station car park on the morning of 7 October 2022.

They arrived within minutes and were authorised to use firearms as they arrived at the car park.

Officer B told the hearing he had a "genuine fear we'd be attacked in the car", adding he wanted to get the "absolute [minimum] kit we needed and get to the gate".

Other officers already at the scene had attempted to incapacitate Marius Ciolac using Tasers but they had proved ineffective because of the thick clothing he was wearing.

Mr Ciolac also had a bag containing his pet cat but Officer B told the inquest he initially feared it was an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).

Officer B deployed a stun grenade, hoping it might disorientate Mr Ciolac, giving officers more time to take control of the situation but its effect was minimal.

He then fired a baton round at his target who continued to point a knife at the two armed officers.

Footage from Officer B's body camera later showed the baton round missed its intended target.

But the officer had been unaware of the fact and started to reload his baton round launcher.

At the same time, Marius Ciolac, still wielding a knife, moved towards Officer A.

The officer fired his police-issue Carbine rifle, the shot entering Mr Ciolac's abdomen - but Officer B revealed he did not see or hear his colleague fire his weapon.

"I thought he [Marius Ciolac] had been Tasered, he still had the knife in his left hand," he said.

"I jumped on him to try to get control before the effects of the Taser wore off."

Mr Ciolac's family, listening to the inquest at their home in Romania with the help of an interpreter, asked Officer B questions about his actions.

They said: "If you faced the same situation now, what would you do differently?"

"Nothing," replied Officer B.

The inquest continues.

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