The West Midlands Police force has been prosecuted in relation to a health and safety failing which resulted in the loss of the tip of a firearms officer’s trigger finger.
The Health and Safety Executive said the officer was injured by a machine that was used to cut up seized weapons at a force facility in July 2014.
The force pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court, accepting a breach in Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The Court “substantially reduced” the fine, having regard to the publicly funded nature of the defendant.
Bernard Thorogood on behalf of West Midlands Police said: “The force is under enormous financial pressures and will continue to be for a number of years. It has had to make efficiency savings of £150m, it has 2,000 fewer officers and has seen a 32 per cent reduction in its workforce.
“Any financial order will impact these pressures.”
The West Midlands Police no longer uses the machine and now disposes of such material differently.
