Mark Duggan's family in court bid over inquest decision

The family of Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by a police marksman sparked nationwide riots, is going to the Court of Appeal in the latest round of a legal battle over a finding that he was "lawfully killed".

They want to challenge a decision by three High Court judges that an inquest jury was entitled to bring in its 8-2 majority verdict.

The family will today ask Lord Justice Sales for permission to launch a full appeal against the High Court ruling.

The jury decided last January that Mr Duggan, 29, was lawfully killed by a police marksman in August 2011 in Tottenham, north London.

Armed police officers intercepted the minicab Mr Duggan was in on the basis of intelligence that he was part of a gang and had collected a gun. He was shot twice by an officer known as V53. One of the hits was fatal.

Family members and supporters reacted with shock and anger when the verdict was announced.

London's High Court dismissed Ms Duggan's application for judicial review, rejecting her claim that coroner Judge Keith Cutler misdirected the jury and there should have been an open verdict.

Sir Brian Leveson, president of the Queen's Bench Division - who heard the case with Mr Justice Burnett and Judge Peter Thornton QC - said the court "recognised the tragedy" of the loss of Mr Duggan's life, but ruled none of the grounds of challenge had been established.

However, the decision left open the possibility of future civil action against the Metropolitan Police.

Sir Brian said: "As we have sought to make clear, it was not the purpose of the inquest to determine civil liability.

"In civil proceedings the burden of proof and the ingredients are different and may - we do not say must or will - provide a different answer to the very difficult questions posed by this case."

Pamela Duggan, mother of the deceased, says she remains "deeply distressed" about her son's death and the inquest verdict.

His aunt Carole, 53, from central Manchester, said the family felt "extremely let down and disappointed" and that it was being blamed for the "uprising" of the 2011 riots which followed the shooting.