Home Secretary urged to act over WA80 ruling

26 May 2025

West Midlands Police Federation secretary Tim Rogers has criticised the Home Secretary for failing to announce legislation to overturn the ruling in the WA80 firearms officer case during her first 10 months in office.

Tim said Yvette Cooper should have addressed the issue and, in doing so, could give officers the confidence they need when using their use of force powers.

He believes there should be no doubt in their minds that when using their powers appropriately they would be supported.

The WA80 firearms officer case was ruled upon by the Supreme Court in 2023, and legislation would be needed to overturn its judgement.

Branch secretary Tim Rogers.

“An officer is entitled to use reasonable force as is necessary in the prevailing circumstances, while in the agony of the moment,” Tim explained.

“The WA80 determination stated that if an officer’s belief was deemed after the event to be unreasonable, they could not be entitled to rely on it.

“This, of course, means that if in the officer’s mind at that time, in that split-second of the agony of the moment, they feel their life or the life of a member of the public was at risk due to someone having a firearm, then two weeks later - poring over it forensically - the investigators determine that was not the case, they deem the officer to be unreasonable meaning they are unable to rely on their honest held belief as a defence."

Tim said he was extremely disappointed the Home Secretary had not addressed the case.

Actions

He continued: “We regularly hear warm words of support from politicians keen to voice their support for police officers and the police service. But, sadly, we often don’t see those words followed by actions as appears to be the case with the issues around the WA80 issue.

“As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, officers remain in a very vulnerable situation when they use the powers at their disposal, powers conferred on them to allow them to serve and protect their communities and protect the law-abiding public from harm.

“In the 10 months since Ms Cooper was appointed as Home Secretary, there will be scores of officers who will have found themselves facing internal conduct proceedings and criminal investigations after using use of force, as they have been trained to do.

“Officers, and particularly firearms officers, are making split-second decisions, assessing the threat and risk to them and the public in a rapidly unfolding, and tense, situation.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

“They make those decisions, perhaps pulling the trigger on a gun, or discharging Taser, in the honestly held belief that they have to do so in terms of self-defence or to protect other people but then find their actions are analysed, frame by frame, with the benefit of hindsight, by investigators who sometimes seem to just want to catch them out.

“The Home Office says it is working to resolve the situation but it has been going on for over a year and we are dissatisfied with the response and dissatisfied with the fact that officers are every day using force with the honest held belief believing that they will be supported and yet they are actually leaving themselves vulnerable to prosecution.”

Tim pointed out that it is not just firearms officers who are affected since police drivers are also facing similar vulnerability.

“Due to the rapid evolving nature of crime, police drivers, even when fully up to date with their training, may come across an incident that was not covered by their courses. As part of their role, they will act instinctively, assessing what’s in front of them and acting accordingly to try to bring an incident to a safe conclusion,” he explained.

Conduct

“But they then find themselves facing conduct proceedings because they have used tactics or manoeuvres not included in the prescribed training that acts as their protection from the driving legislation that applies to other non-police drivers.”

Tim is calling on the Home Secretary to launch legislation to over-turn the Supreme Court ruling as soon as possible.

“I hope that Ms Cooper will use the remainder of her first year in office to act on this as it will make a huge difference to police officers who are currently facing a crisis of confidence in terms of using the powers they have,” says Tim.

“Officers need to be confident that they when they use force, according to their training and in the honestly held belief that they need to act, they will not find themselves facing conduct or criminal proceedings.

“These proceedings, it has to be said, can drag on for weeks, months and sometimes years having a massive impact on them, their families and the Force.

“Currently, I think some officers are reticent to use force and yet any delay in doing so can be disastrous, not just for their safety but also for the public.

Training

“We need the Government to show that it really does support the police and will stand behind officers when they follow their training and use their powers according to that training.

“Officers should be able to confidently rely on their honest held belief relevant to the situation and be judged in the agony of the moment not frame by frame, days and weeks later.”

Tim says the effects of W80 case ruling have already been felt much further than the firearms world and have been discussed not only by police drivers but also by most officers who are trained to expect to use reasonable force as part of their role to keep the public from harm.

“The Supreme Court’s judgement in the WA80 case needs to be overturned urgently – only Parliament can do that by expressly worded legislation. But, if it is not overturned, the Federation will need to universally explain the potential jeopardy officers face because of it remaining in place,” Tim said earlier this year when he first called on the Home Secretary to act.

“Warm words of support from the Government are appreciated but meaningless if followed by acts of betrayal through retrospective criticism and potential prosecutions.”

Diary

December 2025