Greater Manchester Police. Photograph by The Laird of Oldham
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is to be prosecuted for safety breaches over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Cheshire in 2012.
Sir Peter Fahy is facing prosecution by the Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) as “corporation sole” of the GMP for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act in the shooting of Anthony Grainger in Cheshire on 3rd March 2012.
Grainger, 36, was shot in the chest after the Audi car he was in was stopped by police in a car park. A cannister of CS gas was deployed by one of the armed police unit, but a single bullet was also fired through his windscreen, killing Grainger in his car.
Grainger, who was driving a stolen car with false registration plates was wrongly suspected of stealing an USB memory stick containing the names of confidential police informants.
The CPS are not charging the firearms officer with murder or manslaughter because a jury would likely accept that he believed his actions were necessary in the heat of the moment.
The first hearing will take place on February 10 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, and the GMP could face an unlimited fine if convicted of breaches of health and safety.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has completed an investigation into the incident, but their findings will not be published until the closure of legal proceedings so as not to affect the decision of the jury.
The news of this prosecution comes soon after a jury found that the killing of Mark Duggan in London by armed officers was lawful even though he was unarmed when shot.
Previously, the Met Police were found guilty of endangering the public when armed officers shot Brazilian jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station in July 2005, after mistakenly believing him to be a terrorist threat.
