A long-awaited Police report launched into the first case of a suspect being shot with rubber bullets has now been sent to the Police Complaints Authority, The Royal Gazette has learned.

The inquiry was ordered by Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith in January within days of an officer firing rubber bullets on suspect Stephen Proctor, who was refusing the leave the roof of his mother's home in Sandys during a violent stand-off.

An officer from the Toronto Metropolitan Police Force in Canada was called in to conduct the inquiry and he is understood to have handed his report to Bermuda Police during the summer.

Mr. Smith has promised the findings of the report will be made public, but he has passed it to the PCA for input. The report has also been circulated to senior officers.

The PCA, which was formed in 1998, does not have the power to discipline officers, but it can make a recommendation to the Commissioner. If the PCA deems the matter to be criminal, a report will also be sent to the Attorney General.

The Authority can also carry out an investigation into a complaint or order or supervise a Police investigation into the matter.

If the PCA does not believe the Commissioner has dealt with a case satisfactorily, it can send a copy of the investigation to the Governor and table it before the House of Assembly.

PCA chairman Coles Diel, in an interview with The Royal Gazette in 1999, said he did not believe this "ultimate sanction" would ever be used.

In a statement last night, Police said: "The report has been distributed to a wider audience as the Commissioner felt that others may have relevant input prior to the final release of the findings of the report.

"As soon as that wider consultation is complete, the Commissioner anticipates being able to make a more full disclosure."Proctor, 52, was fined $800 and given a three month jail sentence, suspended for two years, when he admitted assaulting a police officer during the incident and behaving in a threatening manner.