PC who fired Taser at man with mental health issues says he had no choice

Oliver West tells inquest former soldier Spencer Beynon, who later died, charged at him, shouting

A former police officer who fired a Taser at a former soldier with mental health issues who died told an inquest jury he had no choice but to discharge the stun gun because he feared for his own safety and that of bystanders.

PC Oliver West, who has since left the police after being convicted of stealing a car battery, said he found Spencer Beynon slumped in a doorway with a serious neck wound but claimed he suddenly got up and charged at him, shouting: I want to die."