Officer disciplined for using handgun to break car windows

A police officer who used his police handgun to break the windscreen and driver's window of a stolen car as the driver made off from police, has been disciplined for using the weapon in a way which was potentially dangerous.

The incident happened on 21 November 2003 when police tried to apprehend the driver of a stolen Peugeot car at Clogher in Co. Tyrone.

The Police Ombudsman launched an investigation after being informed of the incident by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The investigation found that, shortly before 1.30am, police had been informed by military personnel that the stolen car was parked outside a pub in Clogher. A two man mobile patrol pulled up in front of the car and the officers got out and approached the vehicle.

There was only one person in the car, Man A, who was recognised as a disqualified driver. As one of the officers, Police Officer 1, approached the driver's side of the car, he said Man A locked the car's doors and reversed at speed.

The officer shouted "Police, stop" and used his handgun to smash the windscreen of the car. He said the car was then driven forwards towards him and his colleague, at which point he then smashed the front driver's side window with his gun and again ordered the driver to stop.

However, he said the driver made a gesture with his middle finger before driving off at speed towards Fivemiletown.

The officers then went to Man A's home address and spoke to his mother. She told them he was not in and she did not know where he was.

At 7.30am that morning police were informed by military personnel that the stolen car was at a location near Clogher. Police Officers 1 and 2 went to the location and arrested Man A, who subsequently admitted a number of road traffic offences.

No public complaint was made in relation to the incident.

Police Officer 1's account of what happened was corroborated by Police Officer 2. Despite attempts to contact Man A, Police Ombudsman investigators were unable to obtain his account of what happened. There was no CCTV footage of the incident.

When interviewed by Police Ombudsman investigators, Police Officer 1 stated that he had been armed with a baton as well as his handgun and had smashed the windows in a bid to prevent Man A driving off and potentially causing a serious or fatal accident.

He added that he had been unable to set up a checkpoint as there was only one other police car in the area and he had not been trained in the use of a stinger (a spiked device designed to puncture tyres).

The Officer also maintained that he had been in full control of the gun throughout the incident, and could not have discharged a shot as he had not touched the trigger.

However, he conceded that he did not know which direction the gun had been pointing during the incident and admitted that he had never been taught to use the weapon in such a way.

Nevertheless, the officer maintained that his actions had been justified, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances.

Having assessed the evidence, the Police Ombudsman concluded that the way in which Police Officer 1 had used the weapon had been potentially dangerous and contravened police guidelines.

He recommended that Police Officer 1 should be disciplined and this recommendation has since been implemented by the PSNI.