GMP officer forced to resign in PC Terry shooting

One officer has been forced to resign while another has been reprimanded following a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) misconduct hearing, concluding that risk assessments for a training exercise, in which an officer was shot dead, were inadequate.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) released the report into the death of PC Ian Terry today (September 17), who died during a firearms training exercise on June 9, 2008.

It involved GMP’s Tactical Firearms Unit in a disused factory premises in Newton Heath, Manchester.

One officer, known by the pseudonym Chris, who fired the fatal shot, was found guilty of gross misconduct. The second officer, known by the pseudonym Francis, who was involved in the organisation of the training and the way it was conducted, pleaded guilty to gross misconduct at the start of the hearing.

PC Terry, who was performing the role of a suspected criminal in a car, was killed after he was shot in the chest by Chris, acting as an officer, during the mock training exercise.

The firearm used by Chris discharged Round Irritant Personnel (RIP) rounds, which manufacturers say can penetrate timber up to 65mm thick, cell-type doors and fire doors clad with thin-steel plate on both sides.

The investigation found that RIP rounds had only been introduced to firearms training a week before the incident.

Prior to the conclusion of the misconduct hearing, GMP had already pleaded guilty to failing to adequately monitor the training courses its firearms unit designed and ran.

Following the Health and Safety Executive prosecution, the force was fined £166,666 and ordered to pay costs of £90,000 for breaching section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

A third officer, known by the pseudonym Eric, was found not guilty at the same hearing. He retired prior to disciplinary matters.

IPCC Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone said: “This training exercise was poorly planned and high risk. Everyone involved will have to live with the fact that a popular and well-respected officer lost his life as a result of the mistakes made on that day.”

He added: “This was a shocking wake-up call for GMP firearms unit. Firearms officers have a very difficult and dangerous job to do and their training does need to be challenging. However, in this instance completely unnecessary risks were taken resulting in PC Terry`s death.”

GMP`s chief constable, Sir Peter Fahy, said the investigation into the death of PC Terry was “a complicated and frustrating series of legal and multiple investigative processes”, which contributed to the delay in bringing the case to a conclusion.

“This hearing was the final stage in a very long process and I hope that this decision provides Ian’s family with some form of closure and that they can all now begin to move forward,” he said.

“Since Ian’s tragic death we have introduced a number of rigorous measures to ensure that the risk to our officers on such training exercises is minimised and that their safety is our number one priority.”

GMP police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd welcomed the outcome of the disciplinary hearing but questioned the length of time it took the IPCC to bring the matter to a close.

He said: “All this has done is prolong the heartbreak for Ian’s family. It is insulting and it is unacceptable.

“The IPCC needs to change the way it goes about its business, or else the Government needs to step in and put in place a regime which is fit for purpose.

“No one takes pleasure in this outcome, but I hope it will finally draw a line under this terrible tragedy and – most importantly – allow his family to move on with their lives.”