London, March 26: A UK police officer who was shot dead during a “cops and robbers” training session was unlawfully killed, a jury ruled today.
A verdict of unlawful killing was recorded in relation to the officer’s death, Sky News reports
Ian Terry died in June 2008 while the Greater Manchester Police’s firearms unit practiced at a disused factory. In the exercise, PC Terry, 32, from Burnley, Lancashire, brandished an unloaded gun in his role of a fleeing criminal.
His colleague, identified only as Chris during the inquest, “instinctively” pulled the trigger on his shotgun. His gun was loaded with blank round of a specialist ammunition called Round Irritant Personnel. It’s designed to break windows but is deadly at close range.
PC Terry was not wearing body armour.
During the five-week inquest into his death, the city’s Coroner’s Court heard of a series of failures by the officer who shot PC Terry.
It also heard there had been systematic failings with the planning and operation of the role-playing drill.
—Agencies