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A man shot dead by police after officers stopped a car on a motorway slip road was lawfully killed, an inquest jury has concluded.

Yassar Yaqub, 28, was in the front passenger seat in one of two cars travelling in convoy on the M62 when four unmarked police vehicles surrounded them at junction 24 in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, a six-week-long inquest heard.

After the stop, Mr Yaqub ignored a command to "show me your hands" and instead "crouched down" before raising a handgun over the car's dashboard, an officer told the jury at Leeds Crown Court. The officer, identified as V39, said he leaned out of his car window and fired three shots at Mr Yaqub from 1.5 metres away, with two bullets hitting him in the chest and causing "catastrophic blood loss".

V39 said he had feared for his life and "had no alternative". In its conclusion on Wednesday, the jury said V39 "honestly believed that a firearm was being aimed at him, his life was in danger and he used reasonable force discharging his firearm".

Police forensics officers examine a silver Audi with bullet holes in its windscreen near junction J24 of the M62, where Mohammed Yassar Yaqub died (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Mr Yaqub was described by police intelligence as a "highly active criminal", the jury heard, with an operation set up in October 2016 in response to alleged threats he and another man had been making.

V39 was the passenger in one of the police vehicles following Mr Yaqub and his associates on January 2 2017 from Akbar's Cafe in Bradford. After driving on the M62 towards Huddersfield, the police made the stop at the junction known as Ainley Top.

West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable, John Robins QPM DL, has issued a statement on conclusion of the inquest. He gave his sympathies to the Yaqub family, but said the last five to six years had been “difficult” for the officers and police staff who were involved.

Chief Constable Robins said: “This has been a constant in their lives, from the incident itself, the criminal prosecutions, the investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and finally the recent inquest itself.

“ I hope that people will now see that the tragic loss of life, unfortunate as it was, was necessary to keep the public safe in what was a rapidly unfolding and dangerous situation.”

Leeds inquest hears Yassar Yaqub was lawfully killed when he was shot by police on the M62