KEY POINTS:
The family of a man shot dead by police say they still want to know why it had to happen.
Maria Bellingham does not accept that her son, Stephen, had to die after he went on a drug-induced rampage in Christchurch in September 2007, attacking cars with a
golf club and a hammer.
Mr Bellingham, 37, formerly of Napier, had taken party pills and cannabis, and was shot as he reportedly advanced on an officer with the hammer.
In December 2007, a police internal investigation cleared the officer, saying he was "in fear of his own life and acting in self-defence, and no less violent means ... was available to him".
A report on the shooting by the Independent Police Conduct Authority is expected to be released early this year, while a coroner's hearing into Mr Bellingham's death is scheduled for February.
"We want to know why he was shot. We know what happened - but why did it have to be a shooting?" Mrs Bellingham said.
"We know that the police aren't going to say to us 'we did things wrong'. Even if it did happen, we know that they would cover up for their men. That's how we feel at the moment.
"Nothing is going to bring Stephen back, but he was such a neat guy. Something went wrong on the night and he should have been having treatment.
"And what concerns us is that the same thing could happen to any other New Zealander who's never been known to the police before, and wouldn't harm a fly normally."
The officer involved, whom the Herald has opted not to name, had sent the Bellingham family a sympathy card "signed Officer A".
"We were asked if he could make contact and we said, yes, he could. But we didn't expect a sympathy card," Mrs Bellingham said.
The officer, who has been decorated for bravery in a previous police shooting, remains on duty in Christchurch while he awaits the outcome of the investigations.
However he is not doing his usual street duties while the process is still under way.
Inspector Doug Parker, professional standards manager for the Christchurch police, said the internal investigations had been completed and it was now a case of waiting for the conduct authority report to see what happened next.
