So it looks like the pistol was not checked when it was handed in to the armoury and not checked again when it was booked out.andrew375 wrote:Police worker shot during safety demonstration sues for £300,000
A police civilian worker who was shot with a Dirty Harry-style Magnum during a safety demonstration is suing the force for £300,000 damages.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 8:48AM GMT 10 Dec 2008
A police civilian worker who was shot with a Dirty Harry-style Magnum during a safety demonstration is suing the force for £300,000 damages.
The .44 Magnum was made famous by Clint Eastwood's anti-hero Dirty Harry
Keith Tilbury, 51, a control-room operator, was injured after a police marksman's gun went off accidentally.
Mr Tilbury was one of a dozen staff sitting in a semi-circle around PC David Micklethwaite.
The constable was giving a lecture to employees and showing the kind of weapons police officers can come up against.
While he was demonstrating the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, the gun used by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies, it suddenly went off.
Civilian Mr Tilbury was blown off his chair and thrown half way across the room.
Paramedics managed to stabilise him at the Thames Valley headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. He underwent life-saving surgery at the nearby John Radcliffe Hospital.
The bullet had miraculously missed all vital organs and passed through his body.
Although still employed by the police Mr Tilbury has not returned to work.
PC Micklethwaite said he had no idea the handgun was loaded with live ammunition.
He was not charged following the shooting but has been taken off firearms duties.
A second official also told an investigation he believed the weapon was unloaded.
Mr Tilbury, of Hersham, Surrey, has taken out a High Court writ against the Thames Valley chief constable.
A Thames Valley Police spokesman confirmed the writ had been received but was unable to make any further comment.
Also why do the police think it is necessary to give a firearm safety demonstration to people that work in the operations room? Sounds more like showing off. Firearms do not go off accidentally. Unintentionaly yes accidentally no. Quite simply it went off, in this instance, because the trigger was released. It is no defence to claim " I didn't know the firearm was loaded. One of the first things I was taught and in my view is the first rule of gun safey is that you always treat a firearm as if it is loaded. I remember watching an article on GMTV about replica firearms. They showed a clip with a firearms officer who then pointed the pistol at the camera and asked the question would you know the difference between a replica and a real firearm?. I couldn't believe what I was watching.