GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT 47 presence of a manufacturing defect – had been considered by the applicants themselves to be “much less likely” (see paragraphs 64, 71 and 81 above), and could not provide a valid explanation. The fact that it had been impossible to identify the intermediate object was a detail not capable of having a decisive impact on the investigation's findings. 168. In the alternative, the Government submitted that the use of lethal force had been “absolutely necessary” and “proportionate”. They stressed the following elements in particular: the level and widespread nature of the violence which had marked the demonstrations; the force of the demonstrators' assault on the contingent of carabinieri immediately prior to the events in question and the peak of violence at that moment; the physical and mental state of the individual carabinieri concerned, especially M.P.; the extremely short duration of the events, from the assault on the vehicle until the fatal shot was fired; the fact that M.P. had fired only two shots and had directed them upwards; the likelihood that M.P. had been unable to see the victim when he fired the shot or, at most, could see him indistinctly on the edge of his field of vision; and the injuries sustained by M.P. and D.R. 169. In the Government's submission, it had not been proven that the photograph showing the pistol protruding from the rear window of the jeep represented the position of the weapon at the moment the shots were fired. M.P. had drawn his weapon a few seconds at least before shooting, and only a fraction of a second was needed in order to move the hand by a few centimetres or alter the angle of fire by a few degrees. The photograph in question, therefore, did not provide proof that M.P. was responsible for the death of Carlo Giuliani and did not serve to refute the hypothesis of an unforeseeable accident. 170. It had been objectively impossible for the prosecuting authorities to establish M.P.'s state of mind and his precise intentions, given his confusion and state of panic at the time of the events. M.P.'s equipment had consisted of the uniform issued for public-order duties, two helmets fitted with a visor, a rucksack, six large tear-gas grenades, a gas-mask filter and a Beretta pistol and magazine. According to the Ministry of the Interior, it could not be established whether there had been a riot shield in the jeep. 171. M.P. had had no other option than to shoot, as the vehicle's position made escape impossible. Furthermore, the carabinieri in the jeep had been unable to summon help given their state of panic, the aggressive intentions of the demonstrators and the speed of events. In any case, there would have been no time for help to arrive, given the distance involved and the fact that the law-enforcement agencies needed to regroup and had themselves been engaged in a clash with the demonstrators. The Government referred to the audiovisual material produced before the Court, which in their view showed that if M.P. had not used his gun, the violent assault by some seventy demonstrators on the carabinieri vehicle would have ended in the death of one of the occupants.