A policewoman wounded when trying to catch a burglar was shot with a British army pistol sold on the black market by a soldier, the Ministry of Defence said.

Rachael Bown, 24, who intervened in the police pay dispute this month when she accused ministers of lacking respect for officers, was hit by a bullet fired from an army-issue Browning 9mm pistol. The bullet hit her in the stomach, just below the level of her body armour, and she needed five hours of emergency surgery.

Ms Bown was off work for more than a year. She was one of more than 400 Nottinghamshire officers who e-mailed Steve Green, their Chief Constable, about the decision by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, not to meet the 2.5 per cent police pay rise agreed at arbitration. She wrote: “I would like to see the Government acknowledge the personal sacrifice made by officers and their families.”

The sale of the gun with which Ms Bown was shot in Nottingham in February last year, is one of about 40 cases of stolen military weapons being investigated by military police.

A spokesman for the MoD said: “The point is this is a gun from either a British base or from a war zone. The investigation is ongoing.”

The pistol is thought to have been brought into Britain from Iraq. Military police conducting Operation Plunder are engaged in searches of troops’ baggage and belongings when they return home from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police are concerned increasingly about the potential for troops to bring guns into the country from places which are awash with weaponry. AK-47 assault rifles and Glock pistols from war zones are also believed to have been used in shootings in Britain.

Although official statistics show a decline in gun crime, there is mounting concern about the ease with which criminals are able to obtain weaponry in the cities and the casual use of firearms by teenage gangs.

The man who shot Ms Bown, Trevon Thomas, 25, was jailed for 30 years for attempted murder and possession of a weapon with intent to endanger life.

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