AN armed officer who accidentally shot a man in the leg can no longer carry a gun after a police probe.

Aaron Humphries who was shot in the leg in Ronkswood Hill, Worcester is now pursuing legal action against West Mercia Police after suffering a 'life-changing injury'.

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The 32-year-old, who had an imitation firearm in his car, was shot in the right leg after he got out of his BMW on Saturday, October 2 last year.

The IOPC said there was a case to answer for misconduct but West Mercia carried out its own internal investigation, finding there had been no misconduct as the firearm was discharged accidentally.

With the help of his solicitor, Iain Gould, Mr Humphries is taking a civil claim for compensation to the High Court.

Now the force has confirmed the officer has had their firearms authorisation withdrawn.

Deputy Chief Constable Julian Moss said: “As Aaron Humphries has admitted, he was carrying an imitation firearm at the time of this incident. Of course, officers responding did not know that it was an imitation and not the real thing – therefore their weapons were drawn whilst they worked to resolve the situation.

“During the incident an officer’s weapon was discharged and we immediately made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). They referred the matter back to the force to establish if the officer’s actions amounted to misconduct.

“As such a misconduct meeting was held. The meeting fully reviewed all of the evidence and it was determined that there was no misconduct as the firearm was accidentally discharged, which of course we apologise for.

"We stand by the finding and are satisfied that due process has been followed.

"We have also identified organisational learning from the incident and work is underway to address this.

"We can confirm the officer has had their authorisation to carry firearms withdrawn.”