Greater Manchester Police admit health and safety breach over fatal shooting of Burnley police officer (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Greater Manchester Police admit health and safety breach over fatal shooting of Burnley police officer

1:25pm Tuesday 22nd January 2013 in News

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has admitted a health and safety breach over the fatal shooting of one of its officers in a training exercise.

Pc Ian Terry 32, from Burnley, was killed during the GMP firearms training exercise at a disused warehouse in June 2008.

Pc Terry's family attended Liverpool Crown Court as Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy pleaded guilty on behalf of GMP to a breach of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA).

Two GMP firearms officers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, each denied one count of a breach of Section 7 of the HSWA. The officers, a sergeant and a constable, will stand trial on June 10 at Manchester Crown Court.

Sir Peter, who became chief constable shortly after Pc Terry was killed, was told the force will be sentenced on March 20 and 21 at Preston Crown Court.

Pc Terry, a father of two, was shot as the unit practised in a disused factory in Newton Heath on June 9, 2008.

The officer, who was not wearing body armour, was hit from a distance of about 12in (30.5cm) by a blank round of a specialist ammunition called round irritant personnel, which is not designed to kill but can be deadly at such close range.

He had brandished an unloaded handgun during the exercise while playing the role of a criminal fleeing in a car.

An inquest held at Manchester Coroner's Court in March 2010 found Pc Terry was unlawfully killed.

The jury ruled that there was a catalogue of failures not only by the officer who shot Pc Terry but also in the planning, training and safety measures.