Officer shooting was a reflex action

A firearms officer who shot dead a colleague during a training exercise told an inquest it was an 'involuntary act' and it was a 'complete shock' when the gun went off.

Giving evidence at Manchester Coroner's Court yesterday (1 March), the officer, known only as 'Chris', said he had no intention of hurting his colleague, PC Ian Terry.

Father-of-two, PC Terry, 32, was playing a suspect during a 'cops and robbers' vehicle training exercise involving around 20 officers from a specialist firearms team at Greater Manchester Police on 9 June 2008, when he was shot.

Reliving the moment he shot PC Terry, Chris told the court: 'When the weapon went off, it was just complete shock.'

In court, Chris added: 'I never had any intention of hurting anyone. I do not know why the trigger went off, it just did.'

The inquest, now in its third week, is scheduled to continue for another fortnight.