The firearms officer who fatally shot Anthony Grainger during a planned police operation in Culcheth will not face misconduct charges, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Mr Grainger, 36, from Bolton, was sitting in a stolen Audi in a Culcheth car park on 3 March 2012 when he was shot in the chest. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) believed he was preparing for an armed robbery, yet the public inquiry found no firearms on Mr Grainger or in the car, and no intelligence suggesting he was armed.
That is the uncomfortable heart of this story. The IOPC has concluded that the officer, known as Q9, honestly believed lethal force was necessary. After reviewing new evidence alongside its 2013 findings, IOPC director of major investigations Steve Noonan said there was “no case to answer” regarding the officer’s conduct.
The decision does not erase the wider failures exposed by the public inquiry, which was highly critical of senior GMP officers involved in planning the operation. Six officers remain under investigation for misconduct, while former Assistant Chief Constable Steven Heywood faces a gross misconduct hearing, although GMP has not yet set a date.
GMP said its thoughts remained with Mr Grainger’s family and partner. That is appropriate, but understandably rather thin comfort after eight years of investigations, inquiries and damning findings. For local people, the fact that this happened in a Culcheth car park remains deeply troubling, not just as a historical footnote but as a reminder of how badly intelligence, planning and accountability can fail.
A government report said lessons had been learned, including a requirement for all specialist firearms officers to wear body cameras. That is a sensible improvement, though it arrives far too late for Anthony Grainger and his family. Better procedures are welcome, but they do not make the unanswered questions about the 2012 operation disappear.