'Chainsaw and explosives' on masked man shot by police

Probe launched after assault arrest in village

- BY TOM PETTIFOR Crime Editor and SASKIA ROWLANDS

A MASKED man shot by police was said to have been armed with a chainsaw and explosive device, the police watchdog has revealed.

Officers went to a £500,000 detached house in a village to arrest a man in his 30s on suspicion of assault.

When he refused to come out police marksmen were deployed and opened fire, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said yesterday.

Officers also believed the man, who was wearing a gas mask and body armour, was carrying an improvised explosive device in Hollingbourne, near Maidstone, Kent, on Monday.