Shortly before midnight on September 16, 2001, a police Land Rover was on patrol in Upper Movilla Street, Newtownards, when a Nissan Micra car, which was travelling in the same direction ahead of the police, attempted to perform a U-turn. The car failed to make the turn and came to a halt in the road, forcing the Land Rover to stop to avoid a collision.
A police officer got out of the Land Rover but as he approached the car it reversed and turned, before accelerating directly towards him. The officer drew his personal protection weapon and raised it into the aim position, but the car continued on its course forcing him to jump aside to avoid being struck.
As the car passed the officer reached through the driver's window, which was open, with the intention of holding the steering wheel and forcing the car to a halt. Having grabbed the steering wheel, the officer was carried along the road, half-in and half-out of the car. The driver swerved from side-to-side across the road in an attempt to throw the policeman from the vehicle.
In a further attempt to cause the driver to stop the officer fired one shot into the air, away from the Nissan and its occupants. The car, however, continued on its course and the officer was eventually thrown off some 50 metres further down the road. He rolled over a number of times and came to a halt on the road, suffering severe abrasions to his elbows and right knee, soft tissue damage to the same areas as well as to his right hip.
The officer lost hold of his personal protection weapon during the incident, but it was found next to him by colleagues rushing to his aid. The Nissan, meanwhile, continued to accelerate away from the scene, and was later found abandoned 15 miles away at Portavogie. An ambulance was summoned and the injured officer was taken to hospital for treatment.
Outcome of investigation:
During the Police Ombudsman investigation the recovered Nissan was examined by a Scenes of Crime Officer who established that it had not been struck by a bullet. Neither was there any evidence of blood to suggest that anybody had been struck by a bullet.
It was also established that the Nissan was not registered to an owner and had not been reported as stolen. Four months after the incident, when the investigation report was completed, the car had still not been claimed.
Police Ombudsman investigators spoke to three members of the public who had each witnessed some aspect of the incident. Their accounts corroborated the police version of events. A letter was also distributed to households in the vicinity seeking witnesses to the incident.
Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, concluded: "In the final analysis it may be said that the officer had placed himself in a position of danger by reaching in through the open car window, but this was only after the driver had attempted to drive at him and cause him some harm. Once the officer found himself in a position of further personal jeopardy he made an attempt to have the driver stop by discharging his personal protection weapon, but away from the vehicle.
"Although the extreme circumstances under which the officer discharged his personal protection weapon may have been avoidable, his life was nevertheless endangered and there was a risk of serious injury, therefore the use of force in the circumstances was justified."