A POLICE chief has been asked to explain the collapse of misconduct proceedings against a senior officer who was accused of misleading the Anthony Grainger Inquiry.

Mr Grainger was shot in the chest by Greater Manchester Police in a car park off Jackson Avenue in Culcheth in 2012 and died at the age of 36.

The dad-of-two was sitting behind the wheel of a stolen Audi, but was unarmed when he was killed with a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun.

Warrington Guardian:

A public inquiry into his death was held at Liverpool Crown Court in 2017 over the course of 15 weeks.

And gross misconduct proceedings were brought against GMP’s assistant chief constable Steve Heywood after he admitted that a firearms log from the days leading up to the shooting was completed retrospectively, and that he did not initially tell the inquiry he had not filled it in on the date shown.

But these charges were dropped during a hearing last month over delays in proceedings being brought against Mr Heywood in what was described as an ‘omnishambles’.

Now Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor for policing and crime has expressed concerns to chief constable Ian Hopkins over the matter.

Baroness Beverley Hughes is awaiting a ‘detailed report’ from Mr Hopkins regarding the issue.

The handling of the matter was raised on Tuesday at the first meeting of the regional police and crime panel since the case was dropped.

During the meeting, Baroness Hughes said: “I’m expecting a report from the chief constable in relation to Mr Heywood and I’ll consider that when I get it.

“I need to see that report before I can comment further on that.

“It’s very sensitive.”

Mr Grainger and his passenger David Totton had been under investigation by GMP for some weeks at the time of his death over their suspected involvement in a string of robberies on business premises.

Warrington Guardian:

The officer who pulled the trigger, known only as Q9 told the inquiry that he believed that the deceased ‘had reached down as if to grab a firearm’.

But no such weapons were found in the stationary vehicle.

A GMP spokesman added: “We are not aware of a time frame on the completion of this report.”