Brice Dickson: "RUC chief constable must follow English forces' example"

Professor Dickson made the call after the commission again considered the new plastic bullet round made available to the RUC on 1 June.

He also said the new weapon "appears to be even more dangerous than the weapon it replaced" and called on the government to quickly develop alternatives.

The commission's view is based on a report prepared for the government by the Defence Scientific Advisory Council.

Almost 50 baton rounds were fired by police officers during nationalist riots in Ardoyne last week.

The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman is currently investigating a claim that a 16-year-old girl was hit on the forehead with a plastic bullet in Ardoyne in north Belfast on 12 July.

Sir Ronnie reacted angrily to Mr Dickson's appeal.

In a BBC interview he said: "I was surprised at the timing of this statement and disappointed at its lack of rigour.

"It's a call for me to follow the lead of colleagues in England and Wales. But I've spoken to those colleagues and they said they have never given such a lead."

Sir Ronnie Flanagan: "RUC needs recourse to plastic bullets"

He added: "We do not use baton rounds for crowd control, nor would we.

"We direct baton rounds at individuals who are identified as behaving in a way that brings about a risk to life.

"I have no doubt that if my officers had not had recourse to plastic baton rounds then someone would have been killed in recent days."

However, the chief commissioner defended his comments.

Mr Dickson said: "We've done our homework on this. I've clarified the position and checked the press releases issued by the police forces in England and I'm confident that what we've said about the non-use of plastic bullets in England is accurate."

Deaths

Meanwhile, Clara Reilly of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets said the chief constable's comments were "a disgrace".

Clara Reilly: "Sir Ronnie's comments are an insult"

She said: "It's an insult to the families of all those people who have been killed and injured.

"Nine of the 17 people who have been killed with plastic bullets have been children, the youngest, just 10-years-old."

She added that while she welcomed the commission's statement, she had hoped it would go further and call for a ban on the baton rounds.

However, Ulster Unionist junior Stormont minister Dermott Nesbitt has supported Sir Ronnie.

New baton round was introduced on 1 July

He said: "Where we're dealing with blast bombs, fire-bombs and live rounds being fired, that is not a normal situation.

"Therefore, the chief constable needs the measures at his disposal to deal with that."

Sinn Fein assembly member Gerry Kelly said the bullets, which he alleged were mainly used against nationalists, should be banned altogether.