A POLICEMAN told an inquest how he feared for his life at the hands of former mercenary Kirk Davies.

Sergeant Ian Gayles was one of the first officers to arrive at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, to check reports about a man carrying a rifle in the grounds.

He said that David Barstow, a nurse at the hospital, had told him that Davies planned to shoot a police officer.

Davies, 30, of Burn, near Selby, was shot dead by a police marksman when he refused to drop the air rifle he was carrying.

The officer who shot Davies, believing the weapon to be a high-velocity rifle, has been granted anonymity and will be known as PC X.

Sergeant Gayles said: "We were told he had a rifle with telescopic sights. He was dressed in combat gear and had threatened to shoot the first police officer he saw."

He said that Davies had appeared in the car park carrying what appeared to be a rifle and headed directly to where he was positioned.

When asked by coroner David Hinchliff at Leeds Crown Court if he thought Davies might shoot him, he replied: "I was in no doubt."

Forensic scientist Dr Mark Robinson told the inquest that the air gun, which Davies had camouflaged using socks and masking tape, could easily have been mistaken for a more powerful gun.

He said: "It is not readily identifiable as an air rifle. It would only be possible to confirm that it was an air rifle after close inspection."

He added that the rifle, which discharges .22 pellets, was a lethal weapon and powerful enough to need a firearms certificate.

Dr Robinson said: "The pellets discharged are capable of killing an adult male. In our lab we see perhaps one death a year from air gun injuries and countless sight loss and injuries."

The hearing continues.

Updated: 11:27 Friday, April 26, 2002