A gun - allegedly carried by Mark Duggan at the time of his death - was found between 10ft and 20ft from his body, a jury heard today.

During his opening statement, the counsel to the inquest, Ashley Underwood QC, outlined the events surrounding the death of the 29-year-old in Ferry Lane, Tottenham on August 4, 2011.

Jurors at the Royal Courts of Justice were told the armed officer who shot Mr Duggan claimed he saw him carrying what he believed to be a gun wrapped in a sock in his right hand.

He opened fire on Mr Duggan in self-defence as he believed that the he was preparing to shoot at police officers.

However, after Mr Duggan had been shot no gun was found on his person. 

A gun was later found wrapped in a dark sock between 10ft and 20ft away from the scene where the shooting took place.

It was a working weapon and had one bullet in the magazine.

Mr Underwood explained that is unclear about how the gun travelled such a distance or even if Mr Duggan was carrying the gun when he was shot by police.

Jurors also heard that Mr Duggan was shot twice, once in the bicep and again in the chest.

The bullet which passed through his chest punctured his aorta, the main artery which carries blood from the heart, fatally wounding him.

One of the bullets fired at the 29-year-old passed through him and hit a police officer’s radio, which he wore on his chest, and the other was found in the minicab.

Mr Duggan was stopped as part of an operation by Trident Gang Crime Command, which believed he was a member of the TMD, or Tottenham Man Dem, gang.

He had been place under surveillance by the police as he was belived to be involved in gun crime. 

According to police intelligence, the 29-year-old was travelling from Vicarage Road, in Leyton, where he had gone to pick up a gun, to the Broadwater Farm Estate, in Tottenham.

Officers claimed they had planned to arrest Mr Duggan when they stopped him but he was shot in self-defence.

Mr Underwood outlined the issues around the case which the jury will be expected to examine and told them they were two main issues to consider.

He said: “Was the operation planned and implemented so as to minimise to the greatest extent possible the use of lethal force.

“And was it absolutely necessary for the armed police officer to have fired the fatal shot.”

The inquest continues.