Ian Terry

Ian Terry was unlawfully shot during a police training exercise at a disused warehouse in Manchester.

He had been shot at a range of 12 inches with an irritant personnel round which was designed not to kill, but could be deadly at close range. 

He had been part of a training exercise involving 20 police officers at the warehouse and had been playing the role of a criminal. He was noted for not having been wearing body armour at the time. He was shot as the group of police officers approached the group roleplaying the criminals.

The police officer that shot him said that he didn't recall shooting him, but recalled that he had been part of a training exercise. The inquest heard that he had at some point taken off the safety catch on his Remington 870 pump action 12-bore shotgun and later acted instinctively, pulling the trigger.

It was also heard that throughout the training exercise that the police officers had been instructed to keep their shotguns aimed downwards at all times but those instructions were routinely flouted.

The shotgun was supposed to have been used to blow out car tyres whilst they practised a tactic to catch criminals in traffic. The course had been a refresher course for experienced firearms officers.

The police officer that fired the shot agreed that in releasing the safety catch on his shotgun before he was ready to fire broke the golden rule.

It was also heard that the police officer in charge of the exercise had introduced a number of changes to make the training more real, including live rounds. However, it was noted that the training package that, even without the addition of live rounds, had not been authorised by his senior officer as it should have been.

At his inquest, which concluded on 25 March 2010, his death was deemed to have been unlawful and the Greater Manchester Police pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. The inquest also returned verdicts against the police officer that fired the shot as well as the police officer who was in charge of the training exercise.

The police officer that fired the round was allowed to keep his job, although given a reprimand, but was found guilty of gross misconduct. 

The other police officer was forced to resign and fined £2,000. 

Following the finding at the inquest the case was referred back to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider criminal charges. They twice considered prosecution for gross negligence manslaughter but concluded that no one should face criminal charges.