Two police officers who were heavily intoxicated when one fired the other's gun at a party are not fit to be in the PSNI, a judge said on Monday.
Handing six month prison sentences, suspended for two years, to Constables Samuel David Beattie (23) and Paul Coulter (24) at Lisburn Magistrates Court, District Judge Rosie Watters said their drunken actions on June 7 this year when a gunshot was fired through a kitchen ceiling was a “grossly stupid thing to have done.”
Having heard that ironically, the party was “a small celebration” of Coulter “passing out” as an officer in March, she said she “would be concerned” if the pair remained as police officers in the future.