The partner of an unarmed man who was shot dead by police has said she is “genuinely devastated” following the collapse of misconduct proceedings against the police chief who led the botched operation.
Anthony Grainger, 36, was shot through the chest as he sat in a car in the village of Culcheth, Cheshire, by an armed police officer known as “Q9” in March 2012.
Detectives believed Grainger and two others were planning to hold up a supermarket and had access to firearms on the evening of 3 March 2012.
However, no weapons were found in the red Audi and a judge last year found Greater Manchester police (GMP) entirely to blame for his death due to serious flaws in its operation.
Steven Heywood, the force’s former assistant chief constable, was due to face misconduct proceedings this week over evidence he gave to Judge Thomas Teague QC’s inquiry into Grainger’s death.
However, the charges were dropped on Tuesday after GMP said it would offer no evidence against him.
The force’s barrister, Gerry Boyle QC, told the hearing, which took place over video-link, that it would be “unfair” to continue as it would not have access to redacted material, including evidence given during closed session at the public inquiry in 2017.
Dismissing the allegations, the chair of the panel, Nahied Asjad, criticised GMP for its handling of the proceedings. She said: “Mr Grainger’s family, Mr Heywood and the public have been let down by the appropriate authority in this case and we note there was no contrition or apology to anyone in what was said on their behalf this morning.”
Grainger’s partner, Gail Hadfield-Grainger, told the Guardian she was “genuinely, genuinely devastated” by the outcome. “GMP have offered no evidence to save their embarrassment – not for the public’s interest, not for the people involved, not for anybody else but themselves and this is why they’re in this mess in the first place,” she said.
Marina Schofield, Grainger’s mother, said: “Yet again, our family and the public have been let down by GMP, and as noted by the chair there was no ‘apology or contrition’ by GMP. This continues to undermine public confidence in the police force.”
Heywood, who retired in 2018 following criticism of his evidence, admitted that he did not initially tell the inquiry that entries in his firearms log were made retrospectively.
The log, which contained inaccurate information about Grainger’s previous convictions, was alleged to have been made to “retrospectively justify” Heywood’s decision to authorise a firearms operation carried out in the days leading up to the father-of-two’s death.