Thames Valley Constabulary entered a guilty plea at London's Southwark Crown Court to a charge of breaching health and safety regulations at work after police firearms instructor David Micklethwaite allegedly wounded control room worker Keith Tilbury in the stomach with a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum Revolver.
Micklethwaite, 52, who denies a charge of breaching the health and safety at work laws, is accused of "engaging in the pointing of weapons and the pulling of a trigger during role play in the classroom", loading the revolver with ammunition stored in a Quality Street tin, "failing to examine or check the round of ammunition" and discharging the weapon "while inadvertently pointing the weapon at Keith Tilbury".
Mr Tilbury, 51, was sitting beside 10 colleagues in a classroom at the Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, listening to a lecture when he was shot at point-blank range.
The Thames Valley Police Authority employee suffered serious damage to his lungs, kidneys and bowel in the incident on May 30, 2007.
The officer underwent a number of emergency operations and was unconscious in intensive care for two weeks.
A hearing will take place on September 18, by which time the prosecution will have decided whether to pursue a trial.
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