Firearms expert will attend shooting probe

Firearms expert will attend shooting probe

31 May 2017

A WEAPONS expert is to give evidence at an inquest into the death of a man who was shot by a police officer after he failed to stop at a checkpoint outside Ballynahinch police station.

Steven Colwell (23), the driver of a stolen BMW, died at the scene on Easter Sunday 2006.

He was shot twice by a police officer who was attempting to stop the car.

A post-mortem examination following Mr Colwell’s death established he had died from injuries caused by the first shot fired.

It also found a level of the drug ecstasy and a tranquilliser in his blood which “could have affected his ability to control” the car.

Three officers, briefed that day about a theft of a BMW car, a ‘creeper’ burglary and a general threat from dissident republicans, believed the stolen car was being driven from Seaforde towards Ballynahinch and had set up the checkpoint outside the town’s police station.

A confrontation took place after Mr Colwell, who was from Cullybackey, tried to drive away from the scene but was hindered by other cars.

No charges were brought against the unnamed officer known as Officer O who fired the shots at the car windscreen and driver’s window. 

In 2011, a Police Ombudsman’s report said Mr Colwell had been “reckless” but found the police officer who fired the shots played “the greater part” in the tragedy. The Ombudsman said his actions were “critically flawed” and that the decision to set up a checkpoint outside the station was “high risk and ill considered”.

The officer said that he had no other option but to shoot, believing his life and the lives of others including a baby were in danger.

At a preliminary hearing at Dungannon courthouse on Friday, Judge Neil Rafferty said more information was needed about PSNI firearms training.

Regarding training records of the three officers who were at the scene, Judge Rafferty said: “If there were any issues with training we need to find out if those issues still exist in the modern context and has it been addressed.

“That’s really what I want.”

The judge requested that a representative who trains specialised officers should be called to give evidence.

“It seems to me that a live witness from the firearms training branch could be of great assistance,” he added. “We want to know the level of training for the officers, particularly Officer O, and what is the renewal training.”

Further preliminary hearings have been scheduled for over the summer months. The full inquest this autumn is expected to last up to a month.