A police officer was justified in shooting a man who planted a bomb in Belfast city centre, the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman said today.
Nuala O'Loan said it was necessary for the officer to shoot the man he believed was reaching for a weapon.
The use of live fire by police had been "reasonable, proportionate and necessary in the circumstances", said Mrs O'Loan, following a lengthy investigation. The officer who opened fire had no alternative but to do so, she added.
Paul Donnelly was critically injured when undercover police intercepted him and an accomplice as they sped away after planting a bomb in a car outside the motor tax office in Upper Queen Street in November 2002. Dissident republicans were blamed for planting the bomb, which was defused by the Army.
Donnelly (27), from Colinview Street, west Belfast, and his accomplice were later jailed after admitting having explosives.
The shooting was referred to the Ombudsman's office by the Chief Constable of the Northern Ireland Police Service, as are all discharges of police firearms.
Mrs O'Loan made a number of recommendations to police as a result of the investigation, including that the Police Service of Northern Ireland should comply with the Association of Chief Police Officers' manual of guidance on the use of firearms. She also recommended in particular that the PSNI should appoint firearms tactical advisers and post-incident managers for similar future operations.
The PSNI did not completely escape criticism. Mrs O'Loan described as inadequate the fact that the police log for the operation consisted of two pages of A4 and did not provide a full account of the options considered, decisions taken and rationale for the operation, nor of the briefings given to officers. The PSNI has since implemented a series of recommendations made by the Ombudsman following the investigation, she said.
A file was supplied by the Ombudsman to the Public Prosecution Service in March 2004 and in May 2006 the PPS directed that no officer should be prosecuted.