THE deteriorating mental health of a former police marksman - suing Gwent's chief constable over his treatment following the Newbridge robbery shooting, came to light "by chance" a court heard.

Retired armed res-ponse officer Andrew David Hurley, 34, of Newport, alleges he suffered a psychiatric disorder because of his treatment by senior officers after he shot offender Gemelattin Ortancil.

Mr Hurley (pictured) is suing Keith Turner for up to £250,000 for negligence, because Gwent Police did not have post-incident procedures in place at the time of the shooting - October 26, 2000.

Cardiff county court heard yesterday Mr Hurley's mental condition was only discovered when he attended a meeting with Inspector Chris-topher Norman the following March because he had taken four unrelated days sick leave.

Inspector Norman told the court he first became aware of Mr Hurley's mental state three days before a meeting with him on March 9.

He said the former officer's immediate line manager, Sergeant Reuben Mann, told him on March 6 he was concerned because Mr Hurley had been "under-performing for some time".

Nigel Cooksley, QC, representing Mr Hurley, asked Inspector Norman if he would have expected Sergeant Mann to have raised this before, and he replied, "yes", adding: "I would expect him to keep me informed of any issues involving staff as they are happening."

Asked what action he would have taken, Inspector Norman said: "I would have had in place welfare support and any other action the officer and myself agreed with, which is what I did at the meeting."

Inspector Norman said Mr Hurley appeared very upset and emotional at the meeting. Giving evidence, Sergeant Mann said he noticed "a change in what I would consider An-drew's normal state of mind" from the end of January.

He said Mr Hurley became irritated , adding: "It got to a point where I thought 'this incident has affected Andrew more than I would imagine'."

Asked by Mr Cooksley if he thought he should have stepped in before March 6 instead of "letting matters come to a head by chance", Sergeant Mann said: "No sir".

Yesterday, Chief Superintendent Joy Lott, post-incident manager following the shooting, said she had arranged a debrief for Mr Hurley and other officers involved in the incident for January 5, 2001, and asked Sergeant Mann to let the officers know.

Asked by Mr Cooksley if she was impressed to know Mr Hurley only found out about it a couple of days beforehand, she said "no".

She added of Sergeant Mann: "I don't think he was perhaps as committed to positively addressing issues in post-incident procedures as I would want."

Sergeant Mann said the debrief was arranged for his and the other principal officers', long weekend off.

He asked for a different date, but was told it could not be changed.

Another police officer who also attended the Newbridge robbery and later left the force because of ill-health, Alan Edwards, is suing Gwent Police. The force has not yet received notification of a legal action by him.

l The case was adjourned to Monday when counsel for each side will give their submissions.