A retired government forensic analyst on Thursday rejected defence suggestions that the presence of nitrates on the hand of one of three men killed by police in St Andrew in 2013 was proof that he had fired a gun during the incident.

Attorney Hugh Wildman, during cross-examination of the expert witness, suggested that nitrates were “the primary component of gunshot residue” and that their presence on the victim’s hand was “compelling evidence” that the man had gunshot residue.

But the analyst resisted the suggestion.