A FIREARMS expert has been found guilty of health and safety breaches following the fatal shooting of a Burnley police officer during a ‘flawed’ training exercise.

Jurors at Manchester Crown Court, during their third day of deliberations, returned just after noon to deliver the verdicts, which followed the death of 32-year-old Pc Ian Terry, of Red Spar Road.

The Greater Manchester Police officer who arranged the fateful training exercise, who can be referred to only as Pc Francis, was convicted of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act after a four-week hearing.

But his colleague, identified only as Sgt Eric, said to be the safety officer for the routine, was found not guilty of similar offences, in relation to the June 2008 death at the former Sharp factory in Newton Heath, Manchester.

Pc Francis was alleged to have failed to ensure their training package had been authorised by senior officers, failed to carry out risk assessments, unsafely introduced round irritant personnel rounds into the exercise, failed to ensure he was in a position to physically or verbally intervene in the role-playing scenario and failed to ensure role-players were wearing body armour.

Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy has already admitted a Health and Safety Act offence and will be sentenced later today.