A TRAFFIC policeman who saw his colleague shot dead has been plagued by guilt since the attack.

Pc Neil Roper, 45, was hit in the back and shoulder as he fled for his life in the incident in Leeds.

Meanwhile, 34-year-old Pc Ian Broadhurst pleaded for mercy before he was shot in the head at point blank range.

Former US Marine David Bieber, 38, a bouncer and steroid abuser who is wanted in the US for a murder plot, was jailed for life and was told he would never leave prison by trial judge Mr Justice Moses at Newcastle Crown Court last week.

A third officer, Pc James Banks, 27, escaped by a "miracle" after a bullet hit his radio during the shooting on Boxing Day, 2003.

Speaking for the first time about his ordeal in a BBC documentary, Pc Roper described how he had questioned his own actions since the attack on Boxing Day last year.

He said: "That's my mate there pleading for his life and I ask myself, could I have knocked the gun out of his hand? No. You ask yourself this question and you think no. Could I have done this? No.

"We all need a friend to confide in and for me Ian was that friend.

"He did not deserve to die like that. Nobody deserves to die like that."

Breaking down in the interview, which will be screened on Wednesday night on BBC One, he recalls how he thought he was fatally injured.

"I thought I was going to die and it was just a case of making sure my kids are all right," he said.

* Death of a Policeman - The Real Story will be shown on BBC 1 at 9pm on Wednesday.