A POLICE chief has made an unprecedented apology to the family of a Liverpool man gunned down by his officers.

James Ashley was shot dead in January 1998 as he lay naked, unarmed, and in bed with his girlfriend.

Sussex Chief Constable Ken Jones travelled to Liverpool to meet his family yesterday and spent an hour talking to them.

He said: "Whilst no words of mine can undo the wrong that was done, I need to repeat that I am deeply sorry.

"James should not have died but, and this will be of small comto his loved ones and friends, his death has resulted in safer firearms procedures for us all."

Mr Jones said that the management of information and intelligence was flawed and that the armed response on that night was "un n eces sar y an d disproportionate".

Mr Ashley was 39-years-old when he was shot during an authorised police raid at the block of flats where he lived in Western Road, St Leonards, near Hastings, East Sussex.

Firearms officers had been briefed that there was a large haul of drugs in the flat and were warned that the occupants could be armed and dangerous.

But no hard drugs or firearms were found. Mr Ashley had been wrongly targeted, and marksmen were sent into the dark building without plans of the interior.

The unemployed man died soon after PC Chris Sherwood stepped into the darkened room and fired his Heckler & Koch MP5 rifle some 18 inches away from him.

He told other officers that Mr Ashley was moving towards him and he thought his life was in danger.

PC Sherwood was cleared of murder in May 2001 after a trial and the three other officers were acquitted of neglect of duty.

The family has fought long and hard to elicit an apology from the Sussex force. They say it has been a difficult battle. As well as the four officers involved being cleared of blame and two going on to gain promotion, the deputy chief constable was allowed to retire, aged 43, on medical grounds with a full pension.

Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse, who led the Sussex force at the time of the killing was, however, forced out by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

But no one has ever been held to account for Mr Ashley's death.

Mr Ashley's parents, Eileen and Jimmy, brother Tony, sister Pauline and 19-year-old son James were all at the meeting.

His father Jim said: "It's been nearly six years since they killed my son and this is the first good news we've had.

"I would like now to receive a Christmas box from Sussex police with public inquiry written on it."

Mr Ashley's son, who is now 19, added: "I was 14 when he died and it's been five years. It's bad that it's taken so long to get an apology. But I am made up that the chief constable came today."

The family are continuing with legal action against former Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse.

The solicitor of Mr Ashley's girlfriend Caroline Courtland-Smith, who witnessed the shooting, said she was still waiting for her apology and accused Sussex Police of continuing to "maintain a veil of secrecy" over the incident.

David Greene said: "But neither an apology nor money can make good what happened."