A coroner has opened the inquest into the death of Malik Faisal Akram, who was shot dead in Texas last month following a hostage incident.

On Thursday, Lancashire's senior coroner James Adeley opened the inquest and provided basic details about the 44-year-old's death.

He said: "He was shot dead in Texas on January 15 2022 in Colleyville, Texas.

"The county medical examiner's district provided evidence that Malik Faisal Akram was identified by comparing his post-mortem finger prints against the anti-mortem finger prints on the department for homeland security's database, which is the government department you go through when you enter the country."

Mr Akram was born on March 3 1977 in Blackburn and apparently he worked as a barman.

His body was flown back to the UK last week, with a burial taking place in Blackburn on Friday February 4.

The coroner said: "To make sure the person who came back to the UK was the person who was sent on the plane, ID stamps were photographed by county officers and emailed to DCI Andrew Meeks of Greater Manchester Police who compared them against the images sent by Blackburn Muslim Burial Service.

"And they matched so it was confirmed that the person sent back from the states was in fact Malik Faisal Akram.

"Apart from that I have no further information at this stage that I can share."

Akram was shot dead when the FBI stormed Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville on Saturday January 15 after a 10-hour siege in which four hostages were taken. All four were unharmed.

The 44-year-old was investigated by the security services in 2020 but deemed not to be a credible threat to national security at the time, official sources confirmed.

It is not clear how Akram, who had a criminal record in the UK, was able to travel to the US.

A date for his full hearing is yet to be confirmed.