Two armed robbers were shot dead by police marksmen during a foiled raid on a cash security van, an inquest heard today.
Mark Nunes, 35, and Andrew Markland, 36, targeted an armoured Group 4 Securicor van as it delivered cash to a branch of HSBC in Hampshire.
Gang leader Nunes, from Streatham, South London, was shot in the upper back by a Metropolitan Police marksman as he pointed a Beretta 9mm handgun at security guard Michael Player.
Shot dead: Mark Nunes (left) and Andrew Markland (right) were shot dead by police marksmen during a foiled raid on a cash security van in Hampshire in 2007
Accomplice Markland, from Brixton, south London, was then shot twice in the back as he went to pick it up. The gun was later found to be fully loaded and ready to fire.
A subsequent trial of gang members heard Nunes was the leader of a group that had carried out 21 carefully-planned raids.
They are thought to have netted £500,000 as they hit vans delivering money to banks in southern England over 18 months.
Nunes was followed by undercover officers as he travelled to the bank in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, on several reconnaissance trips.
The robbers were also under surveillance when they targeted the security guard, on September 13, 2007.
A jury at Central Hampshire Coroner's Court today watched a dramatic ten minute video, which showed the raid and fatal shootings.
Some family members broke down in tears and had to leave the court as pathologist Huw White gave a detailed account of the post mortem.
Coroner Grahame Short said: "Mark Nunes and Andrew Markland both died after being shot and fatally wounded by Met Police riflemen.
Fatal moment: Mark Nunes points a pistol at the head of a security van guard seconds before he is shot dead by police marksmen
"At that time, the deceased men were living in London and both were subject to long-standing Met Police investigations.
"That operation was looking into a series of armed and unarmed robberies, specifically on cash in transit deliveries.
"Those robberies had taken place in London and the home counties.
"On the basis of information officers had obtained, they understood an armed robbery was planned for 13 September, 2007, at one of a number of possible locations in Hampshire.
"As a result, the Met Police, with the approval and cooperation of Hampshire Police, sent a large number of officers to Hampshire to await the events.
"This included a number of armed officers.
"One of the possible locations of the robberies was Chandler's Ford, where there is a small shopping precinct, with a bank on its corner.
"A number of Met Police officers, including armed officers, were put in place - although their presence was hidden from view.
"Police were out of site in an observation post across the road.
"From 9.47am, Andrew Markland was seen to be waiting by a bus stop across the road from the bank.
Crime scene: Police at the scene on September 13, 2007, where the two robbers were shot dead at an HSBC bank at Chandlers Ford, Hampshire
"At 10.06am a Volvo car drove into the road by the bank and reversed into a bay for disabled drivers.
"Less than a minute later, a Group 4 Securicor secure delivery van drove into the same access road and parked at the steps near the bank.
"That van contained a driver and a guard.
"About two minutes elapsed before the guard stepped out of the back of the G4S van.
"Mark Nunes quickly emerged from the parked car and moved towards the guard.
"He was pointing a hand gun at the guard.
"A moment or so later, he was shot by one of the police marksmen positioned in the observation point opposite the bank.
"Mark Nunes fell to the ground and dropped the gun.
"By this time, Andrew Markland was running from a bus stop on the opposite side of the road, towards the G4S van.
"When he reached the area where Mark Nunes was lying, Andrew Markland appears to have picked up the dropped hand gun from the ground.
Target: The armoured Group 4 Securicor van which was targeted by the robbers as it delivered cash to the branch of HSBC in 2007
"Andrew Markland was then shot down by a second police marksmen situated at an observation point opposite the bank."
Consultant pathologist Hugh White, who conducted the post mortems, concluded the cause of death for both robbers was 'high velocity' gunshot wounds to the chest.
He said the bullets caused a 'huge shock wave' as they travelled through their bodies at over three-times the speed of sound.
One bullet shattered a number of Nunes' ribs after entering his upper back on the left hand side and exiting just below his neck.
It caused extensive damage to his lung and jugular vein in his neck, resulting in 'extensive' blood loss.
Markland was shot twice in the back with both bullets exiting his chest.
Mr White said: "Andrew Markland may have been killed by either bullet or both bullets.
"Each bullet damaged a separate lung and the combined effect completely disrupted the heart."
The families of the two dead men are understood to be demanding answers as to why the men were not arrested instead of being shot.
Nunes and Markland were part of a nine-man gang that conducted the raids between April 2006 and September 2007.
There were 21 raids that took place at 18 locations including Oxford, Swindon, Bristol, Bath, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Reading, Croydon, Ipswich and Gloucestershire.
Prosecutor Brendan Kelly QC said at the trial of accomplices in 2008: "Nunes was seen to run from the side of the bank with a pistol and he pointed that pistol at the head of the guard.
"As he did that, Nunes was shot and killed. Markland was with Nunes. He sought to pick the gun up. He too was shot dead."
The inquest continues at the Hampshire County Council chamber and is expected to last six weeks.
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