Sussex Police have apologised to the family of a man shot dead in his bed and admitted James Ashley "should not have died".

Chief constable Ken Jones travelled to Liverpool yesterday to meet the family of Mr Ashley, who was shot almost six years ago during a raid on his St Leonards flat.

Mr Ashley, 39, died naked and unarmed. He had been in bed with girlfriend, Caroline Coutlandt-Smith, 19.

His family, who have long campaigned for justice, accepted the apology made during a private one-and-a-half hour meeting but repeated their calls for a public inquiry.

Mr Ashley's mother, Eileen, said: "I am glad he came to clear Jimmy's name. But we still want a public inquiry into his death."

In a statement issued later, Mr Jones admitted there had been flaws in the way the operation was carried out.

He said: "While 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 comfort to his loved ones and friends, his death has resulted in safer firearms procedures for us all."

Mr Jones said tactics used in the raid were unacceptable, admitted the management of information and intelligence was flawed and said armed response on the night was "unnecessary and disproportionate".

Intelligence given to officers at the time of the raid said Mr Ashley, convicted of manslaughter in 1993 following a pub brawl, was likely to be armed and a quantity of drugs were likely to be in the flat.

A search turned up a small amount of cannabis but no weapons. The police officer who fired the fatal shot was cleared of manslaughter charges and two other officers involved in the planning of the raid were later promoted.

Mr Ashley's sister Pauline, 40, said: "We are still bitter about this. At the end of the day it was legalised murder and the officers got away with it.

"I am glad to hear most of the senior officers have now gone from the force but it's sad to hear some of the junior officers are still working."

Mr Jones' decision to travel up to the family in person was commended by speakers in the House of Commons yesterday.

The family is taking legal action against former chief constable Paul Whitehouse, who was in charge of the force at the time of the shooting.