Detective in charge of fatal shooting was distracted by 46 private texts to ‘friend’
Police criticised for ‘ineptitude’ that saw unarmed suspect killed
A POLICEWOMAN overseeing a bungled operation which saw an unarmed suspect shot dead was distracted by a string of personal texts with a ‘close’ senior male colleague.
Detective Sergeant Deborah Hurst sent her friend a total of 46 texts during her shift that day.
She was accused of a ‘ deplorably casual approach’ by a judge in a damning report on a series of blunders which led to the killing of career criminal Anthony Grainger, 36.
Judge Thomas Teague QC said the police marksman – referred to as Q9 – made a ‘catastrophic but genuine mistake’ whose roots lay mainly in the ‘ineptitude’ of senior officers. DS Hurst exchanged ten messages with Detective Superintendent Anthony Creely in the ten minutes before the fatal shooting.
Over the course of her shift he sent her 48, the report revealed. She was ‘unable’ to tell a public inquiry into Mr Grainger’s death what the messages were about, but he was not involved in the operation.
However, the Mail understands the pair were in a relationship at the time of the shooting in 2012. In his report, Judge Teague said it was disturbing a key officer in the covert surveillance of Operation Shire was conducting a personal conversation at a critical phase.
He added: ‘I reject her claim that these private conversations did not compromise her ability to focus on her work.’ He said she had ‘ allowed herself to be distracted by purely personal matters at a critical stage of events when she should have been devoting her full attention to the events unfolding’.
The judge stressed: ‘While there is no evidence to suggest that her lack of concentration contributed to the outcome of those events, it nonetheless reflects a deplorably casual approach to herresponsibilities as deputy senior investigating officer.’ It is thought DS Hurst – now part of a unit tackling modern slavery – and Mr Creely – currently a detective chief superintendent – are no longer together.
The extraordinary exchange was just one of a series of errors in the planning and execution of a swoop on suspected armed robbers.
Judge Teague said a police-issue CS gas canister fired into a car to incapacitate the suspects amounted to an illicit ‘ chemical weapon’ and its acquisition could constitute a criminal offence. The report yesterday prompted calls for Greater Manchester Police to be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter. On the evening of March 3, 2012, Mr Grainger parked a stolen Audi, also carrying notorious criminal David Totton and passenger Joseph Travers, in Culcheth, Cheshire.
The trio – wearing gloves and hats which could be rolled down over their faces – were unaware they were under surveillance by DS Hurst and her team. They were suspected of planning a ‘hostage’ robbery. Armed officers swooped and boxed in the Audi with their vehicles and demanded the occupants raise their hands. Both passengers complied.
But Q9 told the inquiry hearing at Liverpool Crown Court he believed Mr Grainger had reached down to grab a firearm.
He fired his submachine gun once through the windscreen, fatally injuring the father-of-two. In the event, no firearms were found in or around the vehicle, and the passengers were later cleared of conspiracy to rob. Judge Teague revealed devastating failings which included:
Inaccurate intelligence that Mr Grainger might be armed – a file created by officers wrongly linked him to an armed robbery charge which related to his brother;
CS gas issued to the team to incapacitate suspects had never been authorised for use by police in the UK, representing ‘a cavalier disregard for public safety’;
An ‘alarming’ number of officers involved in the botched strike had failed training courses and were ‘not operationally competent’;
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood, who was the strategic commander, came in for withering
‘Deplorably casual approach’ ‘Staggering ineptitude’
criticism. He told the inquiry his handwritten log of the investigation was made at the time, but was forced to admit he had added to it at a later date.
Judge Teague said the top officer’s account ‘lacked candour’ and concluded he did not accept his claim ‘that he had not intended to deceive anyone’.
Mr Heywood never returned to his £117,000-a-year job, retiring last year shortly before being told he would not face criminal charges. He still faces proceedings for gross misconduct. The judge concluded Q9 had an ‘honestly held belief’ that Mr Grainger was reaching for a firearm, but said it was more likely he was going for the door handle to get out of the car.
Judge Teague said the trio had probably been in Culcheth for reconnaissance for a future robbery or to steal a car. He made a series of recommendations which included fitting unmarked cars with loudspeakers to ensure suspects cannot fail to hear instructions to raise their hands.
Mr Grainger’s mother, Marina Schofield, said afterwards the inquiry had revealed ‘levels of staggering ineptitude way beyond what was expected’.
Leslie Thomas QC, representing the Grainger family, called for senior officers to be prosecuted and said the report amounted to a ruling that the force had ‘unlawfully killed’ Mr Grainger. In a statement Greater Manchester Police offered its ‘condolences’ to Mr Grainger’s family and said it would be considering Judge Teague’s findings.
It declined to comment on the relationship between DS Hurst and Mr Creely. Giving evidence to the inquiry, DS Hurst agreed the atmosphere at the scene was ‘frantic’. Asked about the messages to Mr Creely, she said: ‘They could be one-word texts’. She stressed that she ‘could still listen to the radio’.