Policewoman in North shot ex-lover with PSNI gun

A policewoman who shot her former PSNI lover used a gun the force returned to her after she handed it in over concerns about her mental stability, a court heard today.

Diane Northcott, 41, has admitted attempting to murder Sergeant Laurence Smyth inside a police station in Newtonabbey.

The Police Reservist shot the officer in the thigh and neck after confronting him when he ended their two-year relationship in September 2006.

Sergeant Smyth sustained serious spinal injuries and is now confined to a wheelchair.

At her sentencing in Belfast Crown Court, Mrs Northcott’s defence lawyer claimed she was mentally unstable at the time of the incident and with hindsight should never have been allowed a gun.

Jim Gallagher QC revealed that six months before the shooting, just after she aborted a baby fathered by Mr Smyth, her state of mind had deteriorated so much that she handed in her gun to officers at the station.

After four weeks off work, the pistol was returned to her by the PSNI, he told the court.

“It was regrettable, to say the least, that a lady who obviously had serious mental and emotional problems had access to a firearm, especially in the circumstances when a number of months prior to that she had recognised it wasn’t safe for her to have a gun in her possession,” said Mr Gallagher.

Mr Justice Hart said he will take a number of days to reflect on the evidence presented to him before sentencing the mother-of-one next week.