Thursday 24 September 2009

£8,000...

...that'll teach 'em:
A police force has been fined £40,000 after one of its firearms instructors nearly killed a man after accidentally shooting him during a classroom safety demonstration.

Thames Valley police was handed the huge penalty at London's Southwark Crown Court today and ordered to pay another £25,000 to cover legal costs.
Anyone else consider that a 'huge penalty'?

No, me neither. Especially as I'm helping to pay it. Still, at least the clown who fired the shot was fined personally.

It was...

Wait for it...

£8,000! Whoooo-ee!
Micklethwaite, 52, who had previously failed a firearms training course, was fined £8,000 over the incident and ordered to pay another £8,000 in legal costs.
Any bets on whether his union will pay those costs, maybe even that fine?
Judge Nicholas Lorraine-Smith criticised the force's use of containers for ammunition.

He said: 'The aggravating features seem to me the fact that those tins had been in existence for so long and nobody had done anything about it, and also the serious injury caused.'
No kidding...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stop muckin abart class! Come on, whose thumb is this?

Jeff Wood said...

True, the penalties are pretty meaningless.

Until the handgun ban, I was a club pistol instructor. If I had permitted, or perpetrated any of the safety breaches revealed by this case, my club would have expelled me, and probably made sure the police took away my firearms certificate.

David Gillies commented very knowledgeably on your previous posting, and was spot on in his criticism.

We could now add that the instructor's failure to pass a safety course in 2005 should have prompted firm action at the time. Prevention was once possible here.

JuliaM said...

"David Gillies commented very knowledgeably on your previous posting, and was spot on in his criticism.

We could now add that the instructor's failure to pass a safety course in 2005 should have prompted firm action at the time."


Indeed. It's what 'elf an safety is supposed to be about, isn't it? Risk assessments, etc?

BTS said...

That is just so funny..

13th Spitfire said...

The way they do it in the army: If you fail your APWT (Annual Personal Weapons Test) they take the fucking weapon of you and if your protest they will kick the shit out of you verbally and then physically if you resist.

Amazing really but I suppose it is all part of the fifth column madness that perpetuates this country. They were probably afraid of offending him lest they were to take his fucking weapon of him.

JuliaM said...

"They were probably afraid of offending him lest they were to take his fucking weapon of him."

Wouldn't be too surprised if that turned out to be the truth behind the affair!