Ivory Coast's ex-President Laurent Gbagbo has denied charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as his landmark trial began at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The charges relate to the country's civil conflict that erupted after Mr Gbagbo lost elections in 2010.
He is the first ex-head of state to stand trial at the ICC in The Hague.
Former militia leader Charles Ble Goude, 44, is also on trial and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Africa Live: Latest updates from the trial
Live stream of trial from ICC website
Seven things to know about Ivory Coast
The trial could last three or four years.
As it began, Mr Gbagbo, 70, appeared relaxed, smiling and shaking hands with his defence team.
The BBC's Anna Holligan, at the trial, said he steadied himself on his desk as he replied "not guilty" as the charges were read.
One of his advisers, Abdon Bayeto, had earlier told the BBC that Mr Gbagbo's innocence was not in doubt.
He said: "There's been a parody of justice here. Somebody who has been in prison for five years with no proof."
This may prove to be the most important trial in the ICC's history. The international court was established to end impunity and bring the most powerful leaders to justice. The first trial of a former head of state is testament to the prosecutor's reach. And yet, despite casualties on both sides, not one of President Alassane Ouattara's supporters has been charged, leading to accusations of victor's justice.
During the pre-trial press briefing the victims' representative was asked how she could represent the victims when only half of those who had suffered would have their voices heard.
This high-profile trial will test the ability of the ICC to obtain reliable evidence from a country in which the government has a political interest in securing a guilty verdict.
Can the suspects expect a fair trial if much of the evidence comes from their enemy?
Mr Ble Goude said: "I always did everything to bring Ivorians together."
Mr Gbagbo sparked a crisis in Ivory Coast after he refused to step down following his loss to Alassane Ouattara in the 2010 presidential vote.
There were bloody clashes between rival forces over five months in 2010 and 2011.
Some 3,000 people were killed, with Mr Gbagbo basing himself in the presidential palace.
He was arrested in April 2011 by forces loyal to President Ouattara, backed by troops from former colonial power France, and later that year was extradited to The Hague.
It will be the highest-profile trial yet for the ICC, which has only convicted two Congolese warlords since its establishment in 2002.
Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ble Goude are accused of four charges - murder, rape, attempted murder and persecution.
Reading out the charges, prosecutors cited cases including the alleged rape of 38 women at a pro-Ouattara rally and alleged killing of 10 people by shelling at a market.
The prosecution said it currently planned to bring forward 138 witnesses.
Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said neither Ivory Coast nor its people were on trial, and that he would not allow the court to be used as a "political instrument".
Dozens of Gbagbo supporters gathered outside the ICC on Thursday to back the ex-president, sparking some scuffles with police.
"Our dream to see our president walk free starts today," said one supporter, Marius Boue. "He is truly a man of the Ivorian people."
Other supporters gathered in the Gbagbo stronghold of Youpugon in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan, to follow the trial.
Profile: Laurent Gbagbo
Mr Gbagbo's followers accuse the ICC of overlooking alleged crimes by his opponents, many of whom are now in power.
But this was rejected by ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who said investigations into the pro-Ouattara camp had been "intensified".
Mr Gbagbo is the first ex-head of state to appear at the ICC, although Liberia's former President Charles Taylor also stood trial at The Hague.
Mr Taylor appeared before the Special Court for Sierra Leone and was given a 50-year jail sentence in 2012 on charges of aiding and abetting war crimes during the civil war in Sierra Leone, which neighbours Liberia.
The ICC has been accused by some in Africa of unfairly targeting the continent.
An attempt to prosecute Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta over post-election violence failed amid allegations witnesses had been intimidated.
The country had been divided since 2002, with rebels in control of the mainly Muslim north. They mostly supported Alassane Ouattara, a Muslim whose family originate in neighbouring Burkina Faso. So when Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to Mr Ouattara in the 2010 election, fighting soon broke out.
Not really - more about identity. Mr Gbagbo and other southern, Christian politicians portrayed themselves as "true Ivorians", in contrast to northern Muslims, many of whom had foreign origins. Under Mr Gbagbo, many northerners were not allowed to vote, while Mr Ouattara was banned from standing for election until 2010. In western Ivory Coast, the conflict also took on ethnic lines.
In the worst cases, Ivorian security forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo shelled areas of the main city Abidjan, where many northerners lived. The ICC also accuses pro-Gbagbo militias of attacking members of ethnic groups believed to support Mr Ouattara. But pro-Ouattara forces were also accused of similar atrocities and these have not been prosecuted.


American Zach Johnson claimed his second major title with victory in a three-man play-off on a thrilling final day in the 144th Open Championship.

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The 2007 Masters winner finished a shot ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen and three ahead of Australian Marc Leishman over four extra holes.
Earlier, the three ended on 15 under to lead a competitive field at St Andrews.
Jordan Spieth's hopes of a Grand Slam were ended as he finished on 14 under along with Australia's Jason Day.
Joint halfway leader Danny Willett and fellow Englishman Justin Rose both carded two-under 70s, as did Spaniard Sergio Garcia, to finish joint sixth on 11 under.
American Jordan Niebrugge also hit a 70 to finish 11 under and claim the Silver Medal for leading amateur ahead of Ireland's Paul Dunne, the joint overnight leader, who shot a six-over 78 to drop to joint 30th on six under.
Australian Adam Scott was in contention but a poor back nine gave him a one-under 71 and a share of 10th on 10 under.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who claimed back-to-back Open titles in 2007 and 2008, started well with three birdies in his first five holes but a double-bogey on six checked his progress and he ended up carding a three-over 75 to finish joint 20th on seven under.
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Johnson struck just 15 putts over the first 12 holes of his final round on Monday to record seven birdies and his skill on the green again came to the fore in the play-off.
The 39-year-old holed challenging putts on the first and second to claim two birdies and go one shot clear of Oosthuizen and two ahead of Leishman.
Leishman, who had followed his stunning third-round 64 with a six-under 66 on Monday to head the leaderboard after making the cut by a shot, fell out of contention with two pars.
This left 2010 Open winner Oosthuizen, whose birdie on the last gave him a 69 and a shot at the Claret Jug, to challenge Johnson but after a bogey on the third extra hole he pushed his putt on the last just wide to give the American the win.
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Masters and US Open winner Spieth started well in pursuit of a 2015 Grand Slam, birdieing three of the first seven, but a wayward tee shot and then a hugely over-hit putt on the par-three eighth ultimately led to a double bogey that looked to have cost him dear.
But such is the ability and cool temperament of the 21-year-old, he hit back with successive birdies on the ninth and 10th before sinking a 30-foot putt to join the clubhouse leaders on 15 under.
However, a bogey on the Road Hole 17th left him needing a birdie on the last - and when his chip rolled back off the green his hopes were left hanging on a putt that proved too much for the world number two. His three-under-par 69 was one shot shy of the play-off.
A run of four successive birdies from 11 to 14, helped Sheffield-born Willett to 11 under and joint sixth place, eclipsing his previous best Open finish - the tied 15th he managed at Muirfield in 2013.
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, famously finished fourth as an amateur at Royal Birkdale in 1998 but his own 11-under overall score gives him his best finish in 12 Opens as a professional.
Fellow Englishmen Luke Donald (68) and Anthony Wall (70) both ended on nine under for a share of 12th, but it was a bad day for Scottish pair Paul Lawrie and Marc Warren, who carded 73 and 74 respectively to finish five under and tie for 40th.
Spaniard Garcia remains without a major title after claiming a 20th top-10 finish in one of golf's top four tournaments, courtesy of a round of 70 that began well but tailed away, with bogeys at 12, 13 and 17, to an 11-under finish.
It was another emotional finale for Jason Day, who was visibly upset after his par on the 18th left him one shot short of the play-off. His only consolation is an impressive ninth top-10 finish in his 19th major.
American halfway leader Dustin Johnson continued his slide from the majestic to the mediocre, suffering a hangover from the three bogeys that ended his efforts on Sunday by dropping another three shots on the front nine to tumble further down the leaderboard.
A second successive three-over 75 left the US Open runner-up a disappointing four under overall and to reflect on another missed opportunity.
Irishman Dunne, 22, was calmness personified on Sunday with a superb six-under 66 to take a share of the overnight lead but looked far less assured during Monday's final round, starting with a bogey as his professional rivals racked up birdies.
He hit three wayward tee shots on the par-four second before finally finding his first shot, which had come to rest on a green on an adjacent course. It was in bounds and playable but a second bogey followed.
Birdies at the third and fifth steadied him but a back nine comprising four bogeys and a double bogey saw him plummet to six under and fourth in the race for the Silver Medal.
That honour went to American Niebrugge, whose final-round 70 saw him finish two shots ahead of compatriot Oliver Schniederjans (67) and England's Ashley Chesters, who followed Sunday's 67 with a three-under 69.
"I would rank it the top accomplishment I've had so far: the Silver Medal in a major championship, especially at St Andrews, is definitely a dream come true," said Niebrugge, 21.
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As in Sunday's third round, the course was there for the taking on Monday morning courtesy of calm, dry weather.
American Brendon Todd paved the way for what was possible in such conditions, going out at 09:40 BST to shoot a six-under 66 and establish an early nine-under clubhouse lead, matched soon after by England's Luke Donald and Germany's two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, who both carded 68.
Phil Mickelson was on course to better both but hammered his tee shot at the 17th way right and on to one of the balconies of the Old Course Hotel as part of a triple-bogey that ultimately led to a three-under 69 and the end of his prospects at seven under overall.


Chevron is to sell its 50% stake in Caltex Australia, the petrol station operator, for a reported 4.6bn Australian dollars ($3.6bn; £2.4bn).

The US energy giant said the sale reflected its plans to generate cash to support long-term priorities.
"It is aligned with our previously announced asset sales commitment," said Michael Wirth, executive vice president of downstream and chemicals.
Media reports said Chevron would sell the shares at A$34.20 each.
That is a near-10% discount from Caltex's closing share price on Friday of A$37.88.
Chevron added that it would continue to be one of Australia's largest foreign investors and the largest owner of natural gas resources in the country.
The move to sell its stake in Caltex would not alter the company's plans for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Australia, Chevron said.
In January, Chevron, the second largest US oil producer, reported its lowest quarterly profit in five years as a result of the collapse in oil prices.
By the end of 2014, oil prices had halved from their peak in the middle of the year.


Controversial US surgeon Jayant Patel who was at the centre of a high-profile legal case has been banned from practising medicine in Australia.

A civil tribunal in Queensland found Dr Patel had lied in order to be registered in the state.
It said he had concealed the fact that he had been sanctioned in the US for unprofessional conduct.
Dr Patel was jailed in 2010 for causing three deaths at a Queensland hospital but was freed in 2012 on appeal.
He received a two-year suspended sentence for fraud in 2013 and later moved back to the US. The Medical Board of Australia had applied for Dr Patel's ban after criminal proceedings ended.
Dr Patel's case stemmed from his time working at a hospital in Queensland between 2003 and 2005.
There were complaints from hospital staff that he had botched operations, misdiagnosed patients and used sloppy surgical techniques.
He was arrested in the US in 2008 and extradited to Australia to stand trial.
He was jailed for seven years in 2010 after being convicted of criminal negligence leading to the deaths of three patients. He was also found guilty of causing harm to another patient.
But in 2012, Australia's highest court quashed the convictions on appeal and retrials were ordered. He was subsequently acquitted in one case and the jury failed to reach a decision in another.
In 2013, prosecutors dropped outstanding charges. He received the suspended sentence for fraud after he admitted to dishonestly obtaining his medical registration.


Rescue crews have ended their search for a British sailor who fell from a yacht in the Pacific Ocean.

Luke Stimson, 38, fell into the water almost 500 miles from land on Saturday night.
The US Coast Guard and Navy said they had suspended the search after 50 hours, pending new developments.
Mr Stimson, who worked as the Asian director of Shropshire firm David Austin Roses, has been described as a "remarkable person".
Prior to the search being called off, the firm said in a statement: "We are a very close company and all know Luke well, so it is a very worrying time."
"Our thoughts are with his family and we are hoping against hope that he will be found soon. He is a truly remarkable person and a much-valued employee.
"He has been in Japan for the last three years and has done a tremendous amount of work to set up our new Japanese office and rose gardens."
The firm described Mr Stimson as an  "energetic, resourceful, passionate person with a hands-on approach".
The coast guard said it was unclear why Mr Stimson, who was conscious and wearing a life jacket, fell overboard.
He and a British woman were the only two people on the yacht at the time.
She is described as an inexperienced sailor and was hoisted from the ship by a rescue helicopter on Sunday morning.
The 38ft vessel, believed to be privately owned, was about 2,000 miles west of the Hawaiian island of Oahu and 500 miles west of the Midway Atoll at the time.
The search is being conducted by Navy helicopters and the Coast Guard along with the warship USS Peleliu.


Five-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan will play Mark Selby in the UK Championship final after beating Marco Fu 6-5.

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O'Sullivan, 40, had to battle to open up a 3-1 lead against Hong Kong's Fu, who responded with a century and breaks of 85 and 59 to level the match at 4-4.
Fu pinched the ninth frame on the black to go 5-4 up, but missed a costly green in the next and O'Sullivan won the decider with a break of 130.
World champion Selby, 33, advanced with a 6-2 win over Shaun Murphy in York.
He now has the opportunity to collect a second UK title and become just the sixth player to win snooker's two biggest events in the same year - the last was O'Sullivan in 2001.
I will be the underdog going into the final for the first time in a long time
O'Sullivan, who was far from at his fluent best, said: "I don't know how I held myself together - you just find something.
"I stayed focused and professional and did not beat myself up. I just had to grind it out and blag it.
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O'Sullivan has never lost a UK Championship final, and victory at the Barbican on Sunday would equal Steve Davis's record of six titles between 1980 and 1987.
"I will be the underdog going into the final for the first time in a long time," said O'Sullivan.
"I would rather be the favourite. I don't mind that pressure; I enjoy it but I will have to go out there and stay professional and patient."
Fu, the runner-up in 2008, said: "Ronnie was too good on the day. I put him under pressure but it was not good enough."
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World number one Selby, who beat compatriot O'Sullivan to win his first world title in 2014, made breaks of 83, 58 and 55 against Murphy.
"I felt good out there," said the Leicester player. "I felt if I got a chance I was going to score. I got to 40 and 50 and then missed a silly shot.
"Whether I am the favourite or not, if I play my own game I am capable of winning. To get in the elite group of players of winning the World and UK in the same year would be great."
Despite starting well, Murphy's often loose tactical play and poor long potting allowed Selby to gain an advantage among the reds.
"I could not have started better and it was the best I felt all week, but the mistakes against Mark are magnified so much," said Murphy.
"If you don't kill him off, he has a way of getting himself back in the match. He is so difficult to crack."
World Snooker announced the Triple Crown event will remain at the Barbican until 2018 after agreeing a two-year contract extension.


On a day when Newcastle moved a step closer to an immediate return to the Premier League there were compelling stories in each division of the English Football League.

BBC Sport looks at five things you may have missed, including a big win for a beleaguered side.
It has been widely reported that the last few years have brought some bad times to Aston Villa and their fans.
The former European Cup winners were relegated to the Championship last season after a torrid campaign and endured a nine-match winless streak at the start of 2017 that threatened to see them embroiled in yet another relegation battle.
However, boss Steve Bruce can now claim to have managed something his six predecessors failed to do.
Saturday's 2-0 win at lowly Rotherham was Villa's third in succession. The first time they have achieved that feat since Martin O'Neill's team did it in April 2010 and the first time they've managed to do so without conceding since December 2009.
Bruce told BBC WM: "The number of chances we had, I started to think 'is this going to be one of those awful ones?'.
"The last time the club managed this we were in the big league so we must understand that. We will get a team that is capable of challenging and that has to be the remit for everyone here."
The win did come at a cost with midfielders Birkir Bjarnason and Jack Grealish, who came on as his replacement, both suffering knee injuries.
Aston Villa might have had it bad in recent years but few fans have had it quite as bad as Leyton Orient's.
Since losing to Rotherham in the League One play-off final in May 2014, having led 2-0, the O's have been relegated from League One, had nine different managers and this week were served with a winding-up petition.
To compound their misery they went into today's game at bottom-of-the-table Newport in the League Two relegation zone, eight points adrift of safety.
Step forward teenager Josh Koroma.
Prior to today the 18-year-old striker had failed to score in his 13 League Two appearances so what better way to open your account in the EFL than with a hat-trick?
Koroma's treble plus Steven Alzate's goal gave the O's a huge 4-0 win at the Exiles to move them six points clear of Graham Westley's men and five points adrift of 22nd-placed Notts County.
On Saturday, 12 November Fleetwood fell to a 2-1 defeat at Port Vale to slip to 13th in the League One table.
Since then Uwe Rosler's men have embarked on a remarkable unbeaten run which has seen them pick up 41 points in 18 matches to soar up to second in the table.
The Cod Army recorded a 2-0 win at Scunthorpe on Saturday to leapfrog the Iron into the second automatic promotion place.
Rosler told BBC Radio Lancashire: "There was no way I could have imagined this when I walked in here just before the season started. Nobody could.
"I said to the players today that there are two more months to go and they will require a lot of sacrifices, but they could change your life."
He added: "This is the best points tally this club has ever had at this level so whatever happens this is the best season in the club's history.
"The players have bought in completely to what we do."
Despite their league struggles, some eyebrows were raised when struggling Blackburn sacked Owen Coyle just two days after a battling 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Manchester United.
Many of those same eyebrows would probably have remained there when Rovers turned to Tony Mowbray to save them from relegation to League One.
The former West Brom and Middlesbrough boss endured a mixed time in the third tier with Coventry City and left the Sky Blues firmly in a relegation battle in September.
However, seven points from his first three games in charge, including Saturday's 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Wigan, have lifted Blackburn two points clear of the bottom three.
"Great credit to the players. They have shown real resilience in these last two games," Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"I could see from the first day that they were a tight group and it was hurting them being in the bottom three.
"We had some warriors out there today but nothing is achieved yet. I think that psychologically being out of the relegation zone is a positive."
Stevenage fans could have been forgiven for thinking their season was destined for mid-table obscurity after their 2-0 defeat by Hartlepool on 21 January.
After the defeat by Pools, Boro were 15 points off League Two's top three, seven points off the top seven and 10 points above the relegation zone.
Since then Darren Sarll's men have gone on a fantastic run of seven wins and one draw in eight matches to haul themselves into sixth and they are now just three points off third-placed Carlisle.
Saturday's 3-0 win over struggling Notts County has set the Hertfordshire side up brilliantly for a meeting with the division's other form side, Luton, next Saturday. The fourth-placed Hatters have won three and drawn three of their last six.


A cargo ship is being towed to port after it began taking on water and sinking while under way in the English Channel, the coastguard has said.

The EMS Majestic, which is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, issued a Mayday call from its position in the Dover Strait just after 19:00 GMT on Sunday.
A number of ships in the area responded to the sinking vessel, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Two of the ship's crew of seven were airlifted to land for safety reasons.
Coastguard helicopter crews from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, and Lydd, Kent, were scrambled for the rescue, along with the RNLI lifeboat from Eastbourne, East Sussex.
The EMS Majestic was being towed to a safe haven by the tug Thor Frigg.
The cargo of the 90m-long ship has not been disclosed.


Islamic State militants are reported to have regained control of a town near their northern Syrian stronghold of Raqqa from Kurdish-led forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said jihadists overran Ain Issa and nearby villages before noon on Monday.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) said it was still resisting the IS assault.
YPG fighters and allied Syrian rebels only seized Ain Issa two weeks ago.
The town, only 50km (30 miles) north of Raqqa, is situated at an intersection of the main roads from the de facto of the caliphate proclaimed by IS to other areas it controls in Aleppo province, to the west, and Hassakeh province, to the east.
In recent weeks, IS has launched several deadly counter-attacks against the Kurds.
The jihadist group had until then suffered a series of defeats in areas along the Turkish border since being forced to withdraw from the town of Kobane in January.
Speaking at the Pentagon on Monday, President Barack Obama said the US-led air campaign against IS in Syria was "intensifying".
"We're going after the Isil leadership and infrastructure in Syria, the heart of Isil that pumps funds and propaganda to people around the world," Mr Obama said, using another name for the militant group.
Air strikes destroyed seven bridges in Raqqa over the weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory, reducing the ability of IS to move fighters and supplies.
The Syrian Observatory said IS militants had retaken full control of Ain Issa and the surrounding area on Monday as part of a large-scale offensive in both Raqqa and Hassakeh provinces.
Dozens of YPG and rebel fighters had been killed and wounded, the group added.
IS-associated media outlets also described Ain Issa as "liberated" on Tuesday.
Although YPG spokesman Redur Khalil told the AFP news agency that IS fighters had "managed to enter Ain Issa" after launching an attack at dawn, he insisted clashes were "continuing inside the town in the southern part to expel IS".
In a separate development on Monday, IS posted a video online showing the killing of two activists who had been providing information on conditions in Raqqa.
The video shows the two men - identified as Bashir Abdul Azim al-Salem, 20, and Faisal Hussein al-Habib, 21 - being interrogated, then tied to a tree and shot.
A network of activists has been trying to keep the world informed on how IS runs the city where it has imposed its extreme interpretation of Islamic law, and journalists, gay men and anyone seen as hostile to the group have been killed.


An Australian woman has described the "horrifying" moment she captured a moment of crocodile cannibalism on camera.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Sandy Bell told the BBC. "It was totally amazing but so shocking."
The pictures of the ferocious attack by the big saltwater crocodile in Rinyirru National Park were picked up around the world earlier this week after they were shared by the Queensland parks agency.
But Ms Bell said she and her son, Nicholas McQueeney, had no idea, because they were staying on one of the Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland coast.
"I got these emails from friends, then I jumped on Facebook and went oh my gosh, this is a lot of attention!"
Ms Bell and Nicholas, 14, who are spending a year travelling around Australia, were camping in late October.
They were heading to a ranger station so Nicholas could join an online school lesson, when they pulled over to take some pictures of a few crocodiles lying on the bank about 20m (65ft) away.
"The bigger crocodile was sitting in the water, and the littler one was sitting on the edge of the bank," Ms Bell said.
"Suddenly the bigger one grabbed the smaller one and flung it up into the air.
"It starting flinging the smaller one around, splashing it into the water. Then it started eating the tail, and then the legs. Just... chomp chomp chomp."
The dramatic attack went on for about 10-15 minutes before the crocodile - which she says was about 5m long - left the remains on the side of the bank and "slunk away into the water".
She says the smaller croc may well already have been dead or dying, but that she had never seen anything similar before.
"When this massive crocodile reared out of the water, it was pretty special to see. The head just looked monstrous.
"All I could think was you can see how easy it is for animals or people to get taken by a crocodile - because it was so ferocious and strong and powerful."
Ms Bell sent her photos to Queensland National Parks, telling them she thought they might be interested - they were, and shared them on their Facebook page.
How to be 'croc wise'
Source: Queensland government
The parks agency said the photos probably show a saltwater crocodile - or saltie - attacking a smaller freshwater one.
It's fairly common for male crocs to attack other males to defend their territories during mating season, which is now, they said, and warned the sight was a good reminder "to be croc wise in croc country".
Ms Bell said she and her son were "on a such a high" after the attack, though both were "horrified to see how ferocious the whole thing was".
She also doesn't think Nicholas's online science teacher believed his excuse that he was late for the lesson because "I was just watching a crocodile eat another crocodile".
But she said they would both be more cautious now in crocodile country.
"There are lots of signs around, but you get a little bit blase."
She advised other travellers: "Be careful, don't take them for granted. All I could think of was how easy it would be if that were an animal or a person. It's horrible, horrible."


A Met Police officer "unintentionally" fired his gun while attending an incident involving the force's kidnap unit in west London.

It happened when kidnap and firearms officers were involved in an operation in Uxbridge earlier on Saturday.
The Met said there was an "unintentional discharge of a firearm" and no one was injured as a result.
A man was found with multiple stab injuries at the scene and taken to hospital in a "serious condition".
Two men have been arrested in connection with the operation, which the police refused to comment on.
The Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed of the firearms incident.


The traditional drumming of Burundi is a symbol of national pride but a debate is being had about when the drums should be played.

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15 April 2015 Last updated at 17:07 BST
They were once reserved only for royal ceremonies but their use has expanded, and some drummers are asking for controls to be put in place.
BBC Africa's Salim Kikeke reports from Burundi.


A prominent Indian tribal rights activist who was attacked with a chemical substance in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has been moved to Delhi for treatment.

Soni Sori said men on a motorcycle had thrown liquid on her face on Saturday night. Doctors said it was not acid.
Ms Sori is a member of Delhi's governing Aam Aadmi Party.
She is a critic of police violence towards tribespeople in Chhattisgarh, which is facing a Maoist insurgency.
Ms Sori told the BBC that men on a motorcycle had stopped her car, forced her to get out and thrown liquid on her face.
She told reporters on Sunday that she was worried about her children's security and the attack was an attempt to intimidate her further.
"There is a danger to me and my children. I got a [telephone] call on Saturday evening and was told that some people may attack me," she was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
"But I never thought that something like this would actually happen".
The police said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
"But you cannot call it an attack - her face has been blackened by some grease," a senior police official said.
Ms Sori was arrested in 2011 on charges of being a courier for the Maoists and has alleged she was tortured and sexually assaulted by Chhattisgarh police during her imprisonment.
More recently she has alleged harassment by government officials in the area.


Eritrea emerged from its long war of independence in 1993 only to plunge once again into military conflict, first with Yemen and then, more devastatingly, with its old adversary, Ethiopia.

Today, a fragile peace prevails and Eritrea faces the gigantic tasks of rebuilding its infrastructure and of developing its economy after decades of conflict.
A former Italian colony, Eritrea was occupied by the British in 1941. In 1952 the United Nations resolved to establish it as an autonomous entity federated with Ethiopia as a compromise between Ethiopian claims for sovereignty and Eritrean aspirations for independence. However, 10 years later the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, decided to annex it, triggering a 32-year armed struggle.
This culminated in independence after an alliance of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) and a coalition of Ethiopian resistance movements defeated Haile Selassie's communist successor, Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Eritrea profile - home
Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
In 1993, in a referendum supported by Ethiopia, Eritreans voted almost unanimously for independence, leaving Ethiopia landlocked.
Relations between the two neighbours have proved to be uneasy, and are complicated by issues such as Ethiopian access to the Eritrean ports of Massawa and Assab and unequal trade terms.
In 1998 border disputes around the town of Badme erupted into open hostilities. This conflict ended with a peace deal in June 2000, but not before leaving both sides with tens of thousands of soldiers dead. A security zone separates the two countries. The UN patrolled the zone at one time but pulled out, unable to fulfil its mandate.
In recent years Eritrea has become one of the world's most secretive countries.
It does not have any privately-owned indigenous media, and is ranked alongside North Korea at the bottom of global media freedom rankings.
It also reportedly does not welcome foreign journalists unless they agree to report favourably about the government.
United Nations officials have complained that the country hasn't shared information about food supplies in times of famine.
When in 2011 the Horn of Africa was hit by its worst drought in 50 years and aid agencies warned that millions in the region were affected by food shortages, Eritrea denied it had a crisis on its hands.
The UN has been investigating human rights in Eritrea, but its special rapporteur has been denied entry. She has described a refugee exodus from the country as being fuelled by alleged abuses including extrajudicial executions, torture and forced military conscription. The government dismissed a UN report on human rights violations published in 2015 as politically motivated.
In recent years, Eritreans have reportedly constituted a large number of those attempting the risky crossing from North Africa to Europe by boat.
Eritrea has become a gold producer, with mining expected to become an important source of revenue and growth.


People who stored bitcoins at a popular exchange have been told they will lose 36% of their assets following a cyber-attack.

Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, where many users had stored the virtual currency to be used in transactions, said it lost up to $65m (Â£49m) in an attack.
The impact of the loss will now be shared across the site's users.
One Bitcoin expert said the move to "socialise" losses had serious implications for digital currencies.
"Anyone who holds any asset at any exchange realises they're part of the insurance plan for others," said Emin Gun Sirer at Cornell University.
In a statement on its website, Bitfinex said, "We have decided to generalise losses across all accounts.
"Upon logging into the platform, customers will see that they have experienced a generalised loss percentage of 36.067%."
More details of how this figure was reached would be published in the future, the firm added.
Customers were also told that they would receive a "BFX token" equal to their personal losses.
These tokens will eventually be exchanged either for repayment by Bitfinex or for shares in its parent company iFinex Inc.
Bitfinex has said that a total of 119,756 bitcoins were taken by hackers.
In May 2015, 1,500 bitcoins were stolen in a previous attack on the exchange.
It is not the first exchange to have suffered.
Many users lost large caches of bitcoins after they disappeared from the Mt Gox exchange, which then declared bankruptcy in 2014.
Following the news that Bitfinex had suffered a substantial loss of bitcoins, the price of the cryptocurrency fell by more than 20% - though it has since rebounded slightly.
"It's going to be rough," Dr Sirer told the BBC.
"I think we're going to see a move towards models with better understood insurance."
The "vast majority" of people held bitcoins in exchanges and online wallets, according to security expert Prof Alan Woodward at the University of Surrey.
"It's a bit like your bank account having money taken from it and then your bank writing to all customers saying it will spread the losses across all of them," he told the BBC.


Musicians including Kanye West, Jack White, Rihanna, Madonna and Coldplay are uniting behind Jay Z's "artist-friendly" streaming site, Tidal.

They all turned their Twitter profiles teal blue, to reflect Tidal's branding, on Sunday night.
The site launches on Monday, promising CD-quality streaming and thousands of music videos, for a subscription fee.
Taylor Swift, who pulled her catalogue off Spotify last November, is among those to feature on the service.
Her back catalogue - with the exception of her current album, 1989 - is already available on the service, which requires a monthly subscription of $9,99 (£6.72) for standard-quality music, and $19.99 (£13.47) for the "high fidelity" option.
A spokesperson for Swift said that the star's back catalogue appears on all streaming services that require a subscription fee.
"This has never been changed. Big Machine Records believes music has value and we do not believe Taylor's music should be made available for free," they said.
Other artists publically backing Tidal on social media included DJ Calvin Harris, R&B star Usher, country singer Jason Aldean and Beyonce, who is married to Jay Z.
It has also been rumoured that Rihanna's much-anticipated eighth album will premiere on the service after Monday's launch event.
The R&B singer is signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation label, making such a deal possible, but there has been no official confirmation.
Jay Z's company Project Panther bought Aspiro, a Swedish tech firm that runs two streaming music services (WiMP and Tidal) for $56 million (£37.7m) on 13 March.
According to Forbes, the rapper intends to allow artists who sign up to his site reap more rewards than they would on rivals such as Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody and Beats Music.
He will announce his plans at a live-streamed launch event at 22:00 GMT in New York.
A press invitation for the event promised that "Shawn 'Jay Z' Carter and special guests will announce a commitment to a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective".
The launch comes as the streaming market becomes increasingly competitive.
The rapid success of Spotify, which now has more than 15 million paid subscribers and 60 million total users, has prompted many tech companies to launch similar services.
Last year, Google announced a subscription service that allows users to stream ad-free music videos, and download them for offline use.
The monthly fee for Music Key also provides membership to Google Play All Access, the firm's pre-existing "all-you-can-eat" music facility.
And Apple is poised to launch its own service, after paying $3bn (£2.02bn) for headphone maker and music-streaming provider Beats Electronics last year.
It recently poached Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe for an undisclosed role in its music division.


West Brom enjoyed their first league win in six games to ease their relegation fears but deepen Newcastle's worries at the bottom of the table.

Both teams hit the crossbar, with Paul Dummett's header ricocheting off the woodwork for Newcastle and Victor Anichebe going close for the hosts.
Just as a draw seemed inevitable, Darren Fletcher timed his run perfectly to head home Claudio Yacob's cross.
But it was poor goalkeeping as Karl Darlow should have done better.
Darlow will look back on his Premier League debut with mixed emotions. He was a late inclusion in Steve McClaren's line up as regular goalkeeper Rob Elliot was withdrawn before kick-off because of illness.
The 25-year-old, whose only previous appearance for the Magpies was in the Capital One Cup against Northampton, was uncertain under the high ball throughout and should have held on to Fletcher's header, rather than allowing it to slip through his hands with 12 minutes remaining.
It will leave United fans wondering whether their team, who remain in the bottom three, two points adrift of safety, would have earned a point had someone of Elliot's experience been on the pitch.
Ironically, Darlow's best contribution came after conceding, acrobatically diving towards his near post to stop substitute Saido Berahino's goal-bound effort.
Baggies boss Tony Pulis had warned of a "concertina" effect after two successive defeats against two of the teams below them - Bournemouth and Swansea - but the alarm bells will have dimmed a little after this hard-earned win which moves them six points off the relegation zone.
Despite his team dominating possession and looking the stronger side in the second half, it looked as if the Baggies' poor home form would continue - they had only earned eight points at The Hawthorns prior to this match - until Fletcher struck for his 20th league goal.
Scoring has been a problem for Pulis' men of late, but Victor Anichebe - making his first start of the season - added ballast to West Brom's forward line and was a nuisance and a reliable outlet.
His performance was only missing a goal, the crossbar preventing him from heading home from a corner. In the first half, Dummett also blocked Anichebe's powerful effort and the industrious striker received a deserved ovation from the home fans as he hobbled off injured before full-time.
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren said it had been a tough three days for his team, who have now endured two narrow defeats over the Christmas period.
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But the Magpies' spirit did not appear to be damaged by the Boxing Day defeat which saw Everton score with the last kick of the ball.
McClaren's men courageously defended against West Brom's direct approach (the Baggies had 17 corners and 22 shots on goal), with Fabricio Coloccini particularly impressive.
The ubiquitous Newcastle captain cleared James Morrison's effort off the line in the opening minutes and had an improvised backheel - after Dummett's header had struck the crossbar - saved by Boaz Myhill.
McClaren said his team should have had a second-half penalty when the score was goalless and the evidence supports his claim, as Jonny Evans appeared to grab Aleksandar Mitrovic around the midriff as the striker aimed to shoot from six yards.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis: "We deserved the victory. It was a good, open game. The first 10 minutes we could have been 3-0 up, they defended stoutly but thank goodness the dam did burst in the end.
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"They were dangerous on the counter and we had to defend the set-plays well, but I don't think there's any argument that we should have won the game. The disappointing thing again is that we should have scored more goals.
"Victor Anichebe on his day is unplayable. He's got everything you'd want from a centre forward."
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren: "We've had a tough three days and I feel so sorry for the lads. After so much effort and attitude, to stand toe to toe with West Brom, dealing with all the crosses and the balls in the box, I thought we did ever so well.
"But the game hinged on two things. It was a certain penalty. It's unbelievable. It doesn't help us, it's cost us the chance to get the first goal, which is all-important in this kind of game.
"We're all unhappy with the goal we conceded. We coped with everything and I don't think Darren Fletcher will say it was a bullet header but that's football. Decisions at each end have cost us but we'll battle on."
What next?
West Brom will be glad of ending their winless run before hosting in-form Stoke on 2 January and travelling to Stamford Bridge to face fellow strugglers Chelsea on 13 January. Meanwhile, Newcastle's Premier League fixture list does not get any easier as their next two league opponents are Arsenal (away on 2 January) and Manchester United (home on 12 January).
Match ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Newcastle United 0.
Second Half ends, West Bromwich Albion 1, Newcastle United 0.
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Chancel Mbemba.
Stéphane Sessegnon (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Paul Dummett (Newcastle United).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United) because of an injury.
Attempt blocked. Craig Dawson (West Bromwich Albion) header from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Stéphane Sessegnon with a cross.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Rickie Lambert replaces Victor Anichebe because of an injury.
Delay in match Victor Anichebe (West Bromwich Albion) because of an injury.
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Karl Darlow.
Attempt saved. Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Stéphane Sessegnon.
Foul by Claudio Yacob (West Bromwich Albion).
Florian Thauvin (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Florian Thauvin replaces Jack Colback.
Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United).
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Karl Darlow.
Attempt saved. Victor Anichebe (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jonny Evans with a through ball.
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Fabricio Coloccini.
Goal!  West Bromwich Albion 1, Newcastle United 0. Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Claudio Yacob with a cross.
Attempt blocked. Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Stéphane Sessegnon.
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Paul Dummett.
Stéphane Sessegnon (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United).
Attempt blocked. Jonny Evans (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from very close range is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Jonny Evans (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from very close range is blocked.
Victor Anichebe (West Bromwich Albion) hits the bar with a header from very close range. Assisted by Stéphane Sessegnon with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Karl Darlow.
Jonny Evans (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United).
Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Boaz Myhill tries a through ball, but Victor Anichebe is caught offside.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Siem de Jong replaces Ayoze Pérez.
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Saido Berahino replaces James Morrison.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Paul Dummett (Newcastle United) because of an injury.
Victor Anichebe (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Cheick Tioté (Newcastle United).
Attempt saved. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez.


Revenues from the Crown Estate are set to be devolved under the Scotland Bill which is currently going through the UK Parliament.

But an exception to the bill means the Fort Kinnaird retail park in Edinburgh, which the Crown Estate has a 50% stake in, will not be devolved.
The Scottish government has called for the retail park to be handed over to Holyrood along with the rest of the Crown Estate's assets in Scotland.
But the UK government has said it has no intention of doing so.
So what is the row about?
The Crown Estate is owned by the Queen but managed by an independent board, known as the Crown Estate Commissioners.
It is an independent commercial property business which holds one of the UK's largest property portfolios as well as much of the UK's coastline, seabed and farmland.
The majority of the portfolio is made up of residential property, commercial offices, shops and business and retail parks, and includes almost all of Regent Street in London's West End.
The total value of The Crown Estate in Scotland was £261.5m in 2014/15, a £5.5m decrease from the previous year - which represents 2.6% of the UK total value of the Crown Estate.
It also has a 50% interest in an English Limited Partnership which owns Edinburgh's Fort Kinnaird retail park, as well as properties on Edinburgh's George Street.
Under the current funding arrangement, all profits from the estate are paid to the Treasury and 15% of this money is then given to the Queen, known as the Sovereign Grant - £37.9m in 2014 - which goes towards supporting her official duties.
Across the UK, the estate manages 16 retail parks and 3 shopping centres, including Fort Kinnaird retail park.
Fort Kinnaird is a large outdoor retail park, south-east of Edinburgh, with more than 50 high street shops.
It generated £5.7m of profit for the Crown Estate in 2013-14.
Ownership of, and revenue from, the retail park is split equally between the Crown Estate and property trust the Hercules Unit Trust.
In 2007, Fort Kinnaird was estimated to be worth £480m by British Land, who manages the facility on behalf of the Crown Estate and the Hercules Unit Trust.
It has had more that 13 million visitors in the last year with an average spend of more than £118, according to British Land.
The Scotland Bill states that the Treasury may transfer all the existing "Scottish functions" of the Crown Estate Commissioners to Scottish Ministers.
However, the bill excludes property, rights or interests held by a limited partnership.
This means that in Scotland, all of the Crown Estate's assets will be devolved to the Scottish government - with the exception of Fort Kinnaird, which is the only land in Scotland that the Crown holds in partnership.
David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, said that the shopping park would not be devolved "because of its legal ownership structure".
In a letter to the Scottish Parliament's Devolution (Further Powers) Committee, Mr Mundell said that a distinction under Scots law compared to the law in England and Wales on limited partnerships meant that the retail park could not be devolved to the Scottish government.
This means that the Crown Estate's share of the revenue for the shopping park would still be paid to the UK treasury.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has previously called the Crown Estate proposals in the Scotland Bill "needlessly complex", and accused UK ministers of trying to "exclude economic assets" from the Scottish government.
Speaking last month, he said: "We are focused on making the proposals simple and workable and to deliver a faithful and effective implementation of the Smith Commission's recommendations.
"Devolution of the management and income of the Crown Estate in Scotland presents a genuine opportunity to deliver benefits to communities across Scotland.
"It will also ensure we retain income in Scotland, introduce greater transparency and take advantage of our natural assets. I want to minimise disruption and provide certainty and I believe this Stakeholder Group will help give a voice to those who have an interest in this process."


World number one Mark Selby overcame an unconvincing start to move into the semi-finals of the UK Championship with a 6-1 win over Matt Selt.

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Selby won a slow opener on the pink and led 3-1 at the break despite Selt having good chances in the next three.
The Englishman then knocked in three fifty-plus breaks to secure a semi-final meeting with Neil Robertson.
World number 81 David Grace won five frames on the trot to beat Martin Gould and faces Liang Wenbo in the last four.
Leeds-based Grace was outclassed early on, with world number 24 Gould hitting two tons and a 72 to earn a 5-1 lead.
But Grace, who cleans snooker tables to supplement his earnings, eked away at the lead and secured victory in a nerve-wracking 11th frame to become the lowest-ranked UK Championship semi-finalist since Alan McManus in 1990.
China's Wenbo and world number three Robertson both won their afternoon quarter-finals 6-5, beating Hong Kong's Marco Fu and Scotland's John Higgins respectively.
World number one Selby is "relishing" the prospect of playing Robertson. "Neil has been playing the best snooker of the tournament so far," he told BBC Sport.


A study of one of the world's most important domesticated animals - the dromedary camel - has revealed how its genetic diversity has been shaped by ancient trade routes.

Scientists examined DNA samples from more than 1,000 one-humped camels.
Despite populations being hundreds of miles apart, they were genetically very similar.
Scientists explained that centuries of cross-continental trade had led to this "blurring" of genetics.
The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
One of the team, Prof Olivier Hanotte, from Nottingham University, explained that what made the dromedary so biologically fascinating was its close link to human history.
"They have moved with people, through trading," he told BBC News. "So by analysing dromedaries, we can find a signature of our own past."
In search of this signature, the researchers compared samples of DNA - the carrier of genetic information - from populations across the camels' range.
"Our international collaboration meant we were able to get samples from West Africa, Pakistan, Oman and even Syria," Prof Hanotte explained.
The domesticated dromedary was adopted as a beast of burden around 3,000 years ago and, well into the 20th Century, trade caravans that sometimes consisted of thousands of animals, would transport goods across the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Prof Hanotte explained: "People would travel hundreds of miles with their camels carrying all their precious goods. And when they reached the Mediterranean, the animals would be exhausted.
"So they would leave those animals to recover and take new animals for their return journey."
This caused centuries of genetic "shuffling", making dromedaries that are separated by entire continents remarkably similar.
Crucially, this has also ensured that the animals maintained their genetic diversity - constantly mixing up the population. This means that dromedaries are likely to be much more adaptable in the face of a changing environment.
"Climate change, for example, is characterised by rising temperatures, more extreme weather patterns and more areas becoming less suitable for livestock," said Prof Hanotte."
"The dromedary will be our better option for livestock production - of meat and milk.
"It could replace cattle and even sheep and goats that are less well-adapted."
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A discarded suitcase filled with clothes and electrical equipment sparked a bomb scare which led to the evacuation of a city shopping centre.

Nottingham's intu Victoria Centre was emptied just before 11:30 BST after the discovery of a "suspicious package" in the upper mall.
Police later confirmed no explosive device was found in the suitcase.
A cordon will remain in place while officers continue to investigate the incident.
Residents in flats above the centre reported hearing an "explosion" at about 15:30 but Nottinghamshire Police - who had urged those residents to stay indoors - said no such explosion took place.
The closure of the centre temporarily stopped a number of bus services in the city.
Supt Steve Cartwright urged people to keep their belongings with them at all times "to help avoid any repeat of today's events".
"We appreciate the evacuation will have caused inconvenience to many on a busy Bank Holiday weekend and we would like to place on record our thanks to each and every person...for their patience and understanding while officers and partners worked to bring this incident to a swift and safe conclusion," he said.
A shopping centre spokesman said customers would be able to collect their vehicles from the centre's car parks and leave free of charge once the centre reopens.


A paedophile doctor went on a church mission to an African orphanage months after UK authorities were warned he was a possible suspect, the BBC can reveal.

In September, cancer consultant Myles Bradbury admitted abusing 18 boys in his care at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, between 2009 and 2013.
But he went undetected to help children with Aids in Swaziland in 2012.
Cambridgeshire Police has been told about the trip, but said it had "no evidence to suggest he had offended".
Ten days after his return, he abused two boys in a single day.
In total, Bradbury, 41, from Herringswell, Suffolk, pleaded guilty at Cambridge Crown Court to 25 offences, including sexual assault and possessing more than 16,000 indecent images.
The UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) were told by Canadian police about Bradbury buying suspect movies online in July 2012, but local officers were not told until November 2013.
In November 2012, the paediatrician and 15 other members of the KingsGate Christian evangelical church in Peterborough boarded a plane headed for Bulembu.
The 12-day church mission - part of the Bulembu Community Development Project - was to help more than 300 children whose parents died from Aids in the former asbestos mining town.
Swaziland struggles to care for an estimated 120,000 children who have been orphaned and has the highest rate of HIV in the world.
While there, the team helped to build homes, paths and playgrounds and assisted with medical concerns.
Two sources on the mission have told the BBC that Bradbury spent time alone with children at the orphanage.
"Normally, the orphanage won't allow visitors to be with the children, but because they are from the church they had special permission," one source said.
"Everyone had been CRB checked in the UK."
They said volunteers would spend time as a group with the children in the mornings, playing activities such as football.  Each volunteer would then be left alone with up to six children in the afternoons for "two to three hours".
They said the doctor also spent half his time at a medical centre.
Another source said they saw Bradbury repeatedly left alone with a group of boys aged 11 to 16.
"We were all left with children," they said.
"In the morning we all had our jobs - Myles would go off to the surgery.  I don't know if he was supervised. A senior paediatrician. The doctor would have been over the moon to have someone like Myles helping out."
While there is no evidence to suggest Bradbury abused children at the orphanage, UK police said Bradbury was highly manipulative in his abuse at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
At the Cambridge site, he filmed a patient using a spy pen and carried out abuse behind a hospital curtain, just feet away from unsuspecting parents.
1996: Graduated with an MB ChB degree from the University of Birmingham in 1996
2004 to 2008: Temporarily employed as a registrar between 2004 and 2007 at Birmingham Children's Hospital and then as a consultant
November 2008: Began working at Addenbrooke's Hospital. Was the clinical trials lead for paediatric haematology and oncology. Also held clinics four times a year at hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich between 2008 and 2013
July 2012: Ceop alerted to Bradbury buying suspect videos off the internet
November 2012: Went on a 12-day trip to an orphanage in Swaziland
27 November 2013: Ceop information shared with Suffolk Police - the same day the first complaint about Bradbury's behaviour was reported to Addenbrooke's. He was immediately suspended from the hospital
18 December 2013: Police arrest Bradbury
15 September 2014: Bradbury admits abusing patients
18 September 2014: The National Crime Agency, which took over CEOP, refers its handling of information about Bradbury and other potential paedophiles to the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Detectives also found a disc containing more than 16,000 images of children downloaded from the internet. Police say they will never know how many children Bradbury attacked because he threw away his laptop hard drive.
The hospital, which has described its shock at discovering his abuse of patients, said Bradbury booked annual leave in November 2012, but did not know he used it to travel to Africa.
Bradbury was one of 2,345 UK suspects identified in Project Spade, which was run by police in Toronto.
In July 2012 the information was passed to Ceop, but the UK body deemed it "low risk" and it was not disseminated to Suffolk Police until 27 November 2013. Coincidentally, it was the same day Addenbrooke's Hospital received its first complaint.
During the delay Bradbury abused eight more boys at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The National Crime Agency (NCA), which runs Ceop, has referred its conduct to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
KingsGate Church had not told police about the orphanage trip, but after the BBC contacted them to request an interview it informed officers.
A statement said: "We are shocked and deeply saddened at the actions of Dr Myles Bradbury and at the devastating impact that these have had on the lives of many.
"Dr Bradbury attended Sunday services at KingsGate Community Church, Cambridge, for around six months from 2012-13 but had no involvement in children's work at the church.
"As soon as the charges against Dr Bradbury were revealed in early July 2014, we promptly contacted Bulembu.  Bulembu then instituted a detailed investigation to make sure that he had not had any one-to-one contact with children during that time.
"They found no evidence that he had any unsupervised involvement with children and was always accompanied by community development project staff."
The Bulembu Ministries that run the orphanage said after checking Bradbury's volunteer work schedule, accommodation arrangements, who he interacted with and where he spent time in the clinic, "no untoward or inappropriate behaviour was noted".
It said it was working with the Swaziland authorities to "further the investigation".
Cambridgeshire Police said it heard about the trip from another source earlier this year, but added it had since spoken to the KingsGate church.
A spokesman said: "From this information, we had no suspicions that he had posed a risk to children whilst on the trip.
"The focus of the investigation was based on evidence and we had no evidence to suggest he had offended abroad."
Bradbury's two-day sentencing hearing will begin on Friday. He has been told to expect a long sentence.


Plans to generate electricity from the world's first series of tidal lagoons have been unveiled in the UK.

The six lagoons - four in Wales and one each in Somerset and Cumbria - will capture incoming and outgoing tides behind giant sea walls, and use the weight of the water to power turbines.
A £1bn Swansea scheme, said to be able to produce energy for 155,000 homes, is already in the planning system.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey says he wants to back the project.
The cost of generating power from the Swansea project will be very high, but the firm behind the plan says subsequent lagoons will be able to produce electricity much more cheaply.
It says the series of six lagoons could generate 8% of the UK's electricity for an investment of £30bn.
As well as Swansea, the proposed lagoon sites are Cardiff, Newport, and Colwyn Bay in Wales; Bridgwater in Somerset; and West Cumbria.
Each will require engineering on a grand scale. In Swansea, the sea wall to contain the new lagoon will stretch more than five miles and reach more than two miles out to sea.
The Cardiff lagoon could include up to 90 turbines set in a 14-mile (22km) breakwater around Cardiff Bay and could generate power for about 14 hours each day.
A planning application for the project is expected in 2017.
If approved, it could be generating power by 2022.
The cost would be funded by electricity bill-payers under the existing government scheme to promote home-grown, low-carbon energy.
Tidal Lagoon Power aims to negotiate with the government over how much it can charge for its power.
It wants £168 per MWh for electricity in Swansea, reducing to £90-£95 per MWh from a second, more efficient lagoon in Cardiff.
The £90 figure compares favourably with the £92.50 price for power from the planned Hinkley nuclear station, especially as the lagoon is designed to last 120 years - at a much lower risk than nuclear.
Mr Davey told BBC News: "I can't make a decision on this yet because discussions are ongoing. But I'm very excited by the prospect of tidal power.
"We have got some of the biggest tidal ranges in the world and it would be really useful if we could harness some of that clean energy."
The lagoons operate a system similar to a lock gate to alter the water level either side of a sea wall.
When the tide starts to rise, gates in the wall are closed and water builds up outside the lagoon.
When the tide is full outside the lagoon, the gates are opened and water rushes past the turbines to fill up the lagoon.
When the tide turns to go out, the gates are shut to hold the water inside the lagoon.
As low tide is reached outside the wall, the gates are opened to generate power again as water flows through from the raised water level in the lagoon.
Power firms also like the idea of lagoons-energy because, unlike power from the sun and wind, it is predictable.
Turbines capture energy from two incoming and two outgoing tides a day, and are expected to be active for an average of 14 hours a day.
Mark Shorrock, CEO of Tidal Lagoon Power, told BBC News: "We have a wonderful opportunity to create energy from the dance between the moon and the earth.
"It is admittedly rather expensive to begin with but as time goes on and the capital costs are paid off it becomes incredibly cheap."
A previous plan for a barrage on the River Severn to create tidal power was scuttled after environmentalists protested it would prevent the daily exposure of mud flats vital for wading birds.
The Swansea lagoon plan is more widely accepted as it does not impede estuaries and allows the tides to flow as normal - albeit delaying each tide inside the lagoon for a few hours.
Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, said the group is broadly in favour of the Swansea lagoon.
"It's not unqualified approval - we want to make sure that the environmental impact can be managed," he said.
"But if it helps us to close Aberthaw power station - one of the most polluting in the world - it'll be a good thing."
Anglers, though, fear the impact of the lagoon on fish migrating to spawn in local rivers which are only recently recovering from generations of pollution.
Phil Jones, who fishes on the River Tawe, said the plan had not been questioned "loud enough or widely enough".
"We would very strongly oppose any plans for this and other lagoons down the South Wales coast," he said.
The firm agrees some migrating fish will stray into the turbines, but project the numbers will be tiny, and that the new sea wall will benefit fish by creating its own reef habitat.
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A man has died in a crash on the A90 in Angus.

The accident happened on south of Stracathro at about 02:45. The main Aberdeen to Dundee road was left closed in both directions for several hours.
Police Scotland said it had now reopened.
The Press and Journal newspaper reported one of its delivery lorries had swerved to avoid the man and that he was then hit by a car.
Officers have appealed for witnesses to the incident to come forward.


When Russell Knox celebrated victory at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut on Sunday he flung his cap across the 18th green at River Highlands and straight into the ring for Ryder Cup selection.

As it stands, Knox is still just outside automatic qualification for Darren Clarke's team to face the Americans at Hazeltine, Minnesota from 30 September.
He's not scheduled to play again before the qualification deadline falls at the end of this month. That might change, but, right now, and despite his brilliance in Connecticut, he's relying on a captain's pick.
Clarke has three of those but, realistically, there is only one slot available.
Of the nine guaranteed qualifiers in the rankings, there are five rookies among them - Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Andy Sullivan of England plus Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain.
That's a lot of newcomers. Is Clarke really going to make it six rookies? Or will he want to bolster his group by going with more players who have felt the heat of battle in past Ryder Cups?
Clarke has a core leadership group of just four  - Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose.
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer won't qualify automatically but they will be two of Clarke's wildcards and up until recently the third one looked like it was heading the way of Graeme McDowell, another experienced Ryder Cup operator to counterbalance all the first-timers in the European team.
Enter Knox, 31, at the Travelers - and an intriguing scenario. The Scot could do Clarke a favour by entering, and playing well, at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, beginning on 18 August. A big finish there and he's in by right when the team is named the following week. He'd knock one of the other rookies out, probably Fitzpatrick.
That would still mean five new guys plus up to seven veterans going in against an American team that looks like their strongest unit in quite a few years.
If Knox doesn't play the Wyndham, what does Clarke do? Last month, Colin Montgomerie, a winning Ryder Cup captain at Celtic Manor in 2010, said that six rookies is one too many.
Paul McGinley, winning captain at Gleneagles in 2014, said that given the number of rookies likely to be in the team automatically, it was going to be a big ask for another one to get a pick.
Are they right? Well, Montgomerie's own team in Wales had six rookies. The best American performance in recent times - and their last victory - was under Paul Azinger at Valhalla in 2008. Azinger also had six rookies - and they destroyed the Europeans.
The rookie argument can be over-played, especially as regards to Knox, who lives in America, who plays successfully against all the American players and who is respected and hugely confident. A rookie, yes. But one who has already beaten the best that America has thrown at him.
Who are the contenders as third man behind Westwood and Kaymer? Apart from Knox, there's McDowell, but he's having a very poor time at the moment and even he admitted, after his missed cut at the US PGA, that he probably wouldn't pick himself.
There's Soren Kjeldsen and Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry, but Knox is ahead of all those.
Knox has won twice on the PGA Tour since November. He was also beaten in a play-off at the OHL Classic (by McDowell, whose form has gone south since then), second again (to Branden Grace) at the Heritage in April of this year and second again (to McIlroy) at the Irish Open in May.
Knox would already be comfortably in the Ryder Cup team had he been an official member of the European Tour at the time he won his breakthrough victory at the WGC in Shanghai last autumn.
Knox became a member straight after his dream victory, but his vast points total still didn't count towards Ryder Cup selection.
He started that week as seventh reserve with seemingly no hope of making the field. He ended it by beating a chasing pack of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler - America's marquee players.
He might be short of guaranteed selection, but Knox has surely done enough to book himself a place at Hazeltine. If form counts for anything, he'll make the team.


England head coach Stuart Lancaster insisted "we've still got lots to work on" despite his side beating Australia 26-17 at Twickenham.

England dominated at set-pieces and secured victory thanks to two tries from Ben Morgan and 16 points from the boot of the 21-year-old George Ford.
"We played intelligently, the boys executed the game-plan. The scrum and maul were excellent," said Lancaster.
"But that was the game today - you have to play rugby in different ways."
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England lost their first two autumn internationals to New Zealand and South Africa - the top two sides in the world rankings - but ended with wins over Samoa and Australia.
Asked to rate his squad's recent performances, Lancaster responded: "Could do better, but it was never as bad as people were making out.
"Against New Zealand and South Africa, our game management let us down. Today our game management was much better."
England's forwards coach Graham Rowntree told BBC Radio 5 live sports extra that victory over Australia was "desperately needed".
"It was vital, because at times our performance levels haven't been as high as they should have been this autumn.
"The best thing to restore belief is winning. We had very frank discussions after New Zealand and South Africa, but you always need to look forward.
"We've got a great young set of lads and today it was all about getting a win against a big nation."
England face Wales on 6 February in the Six Nations curtain-raiser, opponents who also feature in their World Cup group.
Australia are in the same pool and their captain, Mike Hooper, admitted Saturday's defeat was hard to stomach.
"We couldn't get any ascendancy," he said. "There's a long time before we come back together as a group, so this is a disappointing way to finish.
"We just couldn't finish for the majority of the game and that lead to our downfall."


Binge-drinking among young adults in Britain is continuing to fall, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

The proportion of this group bingeing at least once a week is now down from 29% in 2005 to 18% in 2013.
It is thought that fewer adults are choosing to drink alcohol and also drinking less when they do.
More than a fifth of UK adults now say they do not drink alcohol at all - a slight increase on 2005.
Men drinking more than eight units of alcohol on their heaviest drinking day in one week are considered to have binged.
For women, binge-drinking equates to drinking more than six units of alcohol in one day.
Two units of alcohol is roughly equivalent to one pint of normal strength lager or one medium-sized (175ml) glass of wine.
Binge-drinking among all UK adults fell from 18% in 2005 to 15% in 2013, but it was in the age groups 16-24 and 25-44 that the most noticeable falls were seen.
Among these groups, binge-drinking fell by one-third and frequent drinking by more than two-thirds since 2005.
Increasing numbers of young adults aged 16-24 are now teetotal.
In London, almost one-third of all adults said they did not drink alcohol - higher than any other region of Great Britain.
But drinkers in the north of England and in Scotland were most likely to have binged.
About a third of drinkers in these regions had binged, compared with less than a quarter of those in other parts of Britain.
The binge-drinking yob, for so long media shorthand for Britain's youth, is becoming more unrepresentative of the young generation with every year that passes.
So what's going on?
Partly it is cultural. Young people spend more time at home using social media or doing their homework and less time down the pub or hanging around the bus shelter with their mates.
Alcohol is just not that fashionable any more.  Indeed, consumption of tobacco and illegal drugs is also down.
Having a clear head can be cool.
Public health campaigners will argue that the figures demonstrate the success of sensible drinking campaigns and police believe better management of the night-time economy is an important factor.
Changing attitudes to alcohol are also driven by diversity.
A little over 7% of young people currently describe themselves as Muslims or Sikhs, religions which largely forbid alcohol consumption.
Indeed, areas with higher levels of immigration tend to have lower levels of problem drinking.
A third of people in diverse London are teetotal, a quarter in the East Midlands.  In the south-west of England, it's 15% and in the North East it's 17%.
It is estimated that alcohol misuse costs the NHS in England about Â£3.5bn every year. Alcohol is still a major cause of ill-health throughout the UK.
Drinking too much can contribute to a number of serious health conditions, including cancer, liver disease and heart disease. Long-term binge-drinking is linked with an increased risk of strokes, cancer and high blood pressure.
Deaths from alcohol, however, are now at their lowest rate since 2000 in the UK.
In Scotland, which had the highest alcohol-related death rate in 2013, the figure is significantly lower than 10 years ago - from 45 per 100,000 to 29 per 100,000.
Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK said the results were encouraging but there was "absolutely no room for complacency".
"Whilst the average level of consumption has fallen, this may be in part due to the change in the ethnic make-up of the country with many people abstaining from drinking altogether.
"Data on alcohol consumption is also unreliable; many people under-report how much they drink."
He said alcohol remained the biggest single cause of death in the under-60s in the UK.
"The overall numbers of alcohol-related deaths may be down but the numbers are still far higher than they were 20 years ago. Without effective action from government on pricing, marketing and availability, we are storing up major problems for the future."
The Portman Group, the responsibility body for drinks producers in the UK, said: "These positive trends are part of a decade-long culture change around our improving relationship with alcohol in this country.
"But alcohol-related harms still remain and some local areas suffer much more than others.
"The best way to support these communities is to get local businesses, police, local authorities and health services working together to improve town centres, tackle harmful drinking and make our High Streets safer places to enjoy."


A German electronic musician whose track Goodbye was used in the hit US TV series Breaking Bad is among the headliners at a music festival on Skye.

Apparat will play a DJ set at Skye Live in September.
Other headline acts are Mercury Prize nominee Django Django and Irish DJ Mano Le Tough, whose genre is described as apocalyptic calypso house.
This year's Skye Live will be held at a new venue, moving half a mile from playing fields in Portree to The Lump.
The site is used for Skye's Highland games.
Taking place on 22 and 23 September, the festival is to feature more than 20 acts.
Breaking Bad, a crime drama starring Bryan Cranston, ran in the US between 2008 and 2013 and was also shown in the UK.


A charity football match has taken place in memory of murdered Cornish soldier David Curnow.

The 20-year-old had played football for West Cornwall FC and 4 Rifles Battalion in the British Army.
Mr Curnow died after leaving The Zone nightclub in Redruth on 21 September 2015.
The teams were playing for a trophy donated by Mr Curnow's family, with the 4 Rifles Battalion winning the match 2-1.
Hundreds of people showed their support and balloons were set off before the match in David Curnow's memory.
All money raised was being donated to the charity Care For Casualties.


The families of three IRA men shot dead by the SAS in County Tyrone in 1988 are taking legal action against former Ulster Unionist Lord Maginnis, the government and the chief constable.

It follows a recent RTÃ‰ documentary on collusion.
Brothers Gerard and Martin Harte died along with Brian Mullin when the SAS fired on them near Drumnakilly.
The shootings came 10 days after eight soldiers were killed in the IRA Ballygawley bus bombing.
The families claim what was said in the documentary shows that a so-called "shoot-to-kill policy" was being operated at that time.
Lord Maginnis was among those interviewed for the programme.
He stated that in the immediate aftermath of the Ballygawley bombing he was in direct contact with then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
He said he gave Mrs Thatcher the names of people he thought would have been involved in carrying out the attack. He said the people he named ended up dead.
Just over a week after the bombing, the Harte brothers and Brian Mullin were shot dead by the SAS.
Lord Maginnis, a former Ulster Defence Regiment soldier, told the programme: "Of course I felt, thank God that's the end of those fellows, they will not be killing any more of my soldiers. And that's war."
The Harte and Mullin families are also taking civil actions against the Ministry of Defence, the Northern Ireland Office and the chief constable of the PSNI.
The claims for damages contained in legal documents say: "As a result of the murder of our client's brothers and the recent revelation that agents of the state were directly involved in the planning and carrying out of the same, our client has sustained a severe psychiatric injury.
"Medical evidence has been commissioned in this regard, In addition, the deceased's estates have incurred significant financial losses."
The families' lawyer Peter Corrigan said "This is clearly a case where the state at the highest level has ordered a shoot-to-kill policy against our clients and we are taking a civil action.
"It's clear from the programme that the authorities have usurped the  judicial process.
"Names were provided, no evidence was adduced, there was no trial process, there was no charging and men were executed by the state on the authority of the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher."
Ignatius Harte, a brother of two of the IRA men shot dead at Drumnakilly, said: "It's evident from what Ken Maginnis had to say that the orders came from Thatcher herself that Gerard, Martin and Brian had to be taken out at whatever cost."
He accepts the three men were armed and involved in IRA activity at the time of the shootings.
"They had prior knowledge of the men being armed, they had access to the weapons, so therefore they could have been arrested at any time and charged.
"They lured them into an ambush and shot them dead without any warning."
The lawyer said they expect the case to be heard in the High Court in due course.


People have been warned not to disturb a number of "importing breeding colonies" for Arctic and Little terns in the north of the Isle of Man.

Last year, several attacks were reported on nesting birds in the Ayres area, according to police.
The environment department said anyone who injures, kills or disturbs terns could face prosecution.
Research shows the birds make an estimated 50,000 mile journey to breed in these sites.
Wildlife experts said species including oystercatcher and ringed plovers also use the area with 300 nests recorded between Blue Point and the Point of Ayre in 2015.
Wildlife Crime Officer Mark Kerruish said important colonies will be fenced off in order to try and protect the "vulnerable sites".
Arctic and Little terns nesting in the areas are classified as Schedule 1 protected birds under the Wildlife Act 1990.
Mr Kerruish aid: "Unfortunately, terns abandon their nests when the pressure from people or predators gets too great.
"They nest in a limited area and I hope people will respect the controls provided in order to give them the best chance of raising their young."
Dog walkers are also asked to keep their pets on a lead in the area of the Ayres National Nature Reserve until 31 July.


Douglas Tompkins made a fortune selling high-end jackets and adventure gear as the founder of North Face, but he spent his final years railing against the very corporate world that made him a billionaire.

"There's no doubt whatsoever that there's no future in capitalism," he said in a 2012 interview. "It's probably no more than 500 years old, and it's demonstrating over and over again that it is destroying the world."
He moved to the wilds of Chile and Argentina, espousing an anti-consumerist philosophy, buying huge swaths of land and making enemies along the way.
To some he was an environmental hero, but many in South America viewed him with suspicion, unconvinced his motives were altruistic.
North Face founder dies in kayak accident
After founding The North Face as a small ski and backpacking gear shop in San Francisco in the 1960s, Mr Tompkins helped his then wife start Esprit, a clothing brand.
Both companies would grow into multinational clothing giants.
But in the late 1980s, he left the business world for South America in order to pursue environmentalism, co-founding the Foundation for Deep Ecology in 1990.
He often said that he felt lucky to have escaped the shackles of the corporate class and, in his own words, do something with "meaning".
That, it seems, he unquestionably did, spending millions of dollars buying up swathes of pristine land in Argentina and Chile - areas in which he claimed to feel like a "de facto citizen" - and turning them into conservation areas.
In a statement after his death in a kayaking accident, Tompkins Conservation, which represents his family's various environmental foundations, called him "one of the earth's foremost conservationists".
He and wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, it said, had purchased some 2.2 million acres of land, including Pumalin Park in Chile, one of the world's largest private nature reserves, made up of forests, lakes and fjords stretching from the Andes mountains to the Pacific.
But their large-scale South American activities have not been immune from controversy or opposition.
Right-wing Chilean politicians accused the US couple of land grabbing, while local media have sometimes peddled conspiracy theories alleging all sorts of "dark" motives lying behind their activities, according to a 2009 profile.
As a fierce activist, Mr Tompkins also faced-off with corporate interests and their political backers, from loggers to salmon exporters and energy companies hoping to dam Patagonia's rivers.
Despite the heat, he took a bold stand - asserting that he was acting in the best interests of his adopted homelands.
"It is really your behaviour that determines whether you're a patriot," he once said.
"If you're trashing your own country, ruining the soils, contaminating the waters and the air, cutting down trees, overfishing the lakes, rivers and oceans, you're not much of a patriot."


Three Labour MPs have each won £54,000 High Court libel damages from UKIP MEP Jane Collins over remarks she made about Rotherham's child abuse scandal.

She claimed Rotherham MPs Sir Kevin Barron, John Healey and Sarah Champion knew about child exploitation in the town but did not intervene.
The case was sparked by a speech the Yorkshire and Humber MEP gave at UKIP's conference in September 2014.
Her attempt to obtain immunity from prosecution failed in October.
Ms Collins, who was sued by the MPs for libel and slander, had alleged that each of them knew many of the details of the exploitation yet deliberately chose to do nothing.
She made the speech a month after a report found that about 1,400 children in the area had been abused between 1997 and 2013.
Live updates on this story and others in Yorkshire
The High Court heard the MEP also expressed the opinion that the MPs had acted out of political correctness, political cowardice or political selfishness and were guilty of misconduct so grave that it was or should be criminal, as it aided the perpetrators.
Ms Collins had refused to withdraw her comments throughout the whole of the campaign, had not apologised and had repeatedly tried to delay the litigation.
Gavin Millar QC told Mr Justice Warby that the allegations had been the "talk of the tearoom" in Parliament in the run-up to the 2015 general election, and caused "extreme distress".
The judge said all three MPs found the experience "genuinely and significantly distressing".
He said: "They felt that their careers were at stake, and that their integrity was under serious attack."
Ms Collins argued she had made a political speech that did not contain any allegation of fact, but expressed an opinion to the effect that the MPs were likely to have known that sexual exploitation was a serious problem in the area.
She made an offer of amends which was accepted, but the amount of compensation could not be agreed.


South Korea's parliament has voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.

The motion passed by 234 votes to 56, meaning some members of Ms Park's ruling Saenuri party voted in favour.
Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's prime minister, has become interim president.
Thousands of people took to the streets in recent weeks demanding Ms Park's removal. After the vote, she again apologised that she had "created this national chaos with my carelessness".
At the heart of the crisis is the relationship between Ms Park and a close confidante, Choi Soon-sil, who stands accused of using her connections to gain influence and financial benefits.
She is in custody, facing charges of coercion and abuse of power.
Prosecutors say Ms Park had a "considerable" role in the alleged corruption, which she has denied.
Ms Park and Ms Choi have been close friends since the 1970s, when Ms Park was acting as first lady after her mother was killed during an assassination attempt on her father, then the country's military strongman. Ms Choi's father was a cult leader who had become Ms Park's mentor.
It is alleged that after Ms Park became president in 2013, Ms Choi, 60, used their friendship to pressure powerful corporations into donating to two foundations she controlled and then siphoned off funds for her personal use.
On Tuesday the corporations' leaders were grilled by MPs on whether they made the donations in exchange for political favours.
Ms Park has also come under fire for allowing Ms Choi inappropriate access to government decisions, something which she has repeatedly apologised for.
The parliamentary vote means Ms Park - South Korea's first female president - has been suspended.  The case now goes before the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to make a final ruling.
If at least six of the court's nine judges approve the decision, Ms Park will become the first sitting South Korean president to be deposed in the country's democratic era and a new presidential election will be held within 60 days.
In 2004, parliament impeached President Roh Moo-hyun, who was suspended for two months.
However the court overturned the impeachment vote and Mr Roh was reinstated.
Hwang Kyo-ahn, a 59-year-old who spent most of his career as a prosecutor, is now acting-president.
He had earlier served as justice minister, before becoming prime minister in June 2015,
In 2014, as justice minister, Mr Hwang oversaw the banning of the Unified Progressive Party, which was accused of holding pro-North Korean views.
The move was criticised by the human rights group Amnesty International.


Police are appealing for witnesses following a head-on crash between a car and a bus in West Lothian.

A 38-year-old man, who was a back seat car passenger, is in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the B9080 crash at about 22:15 on Wednesday.
The injured passenger suffered serious stomach and abdomen injuries.
The Vauxhall Zafira was travelling south when it crashed with a First bus between Kirkliston and Winchburgh.
The driver of the car, a 58-year-old man, suffered spinal injuries and a fractured ankle.
The front seat passenger, a 34-year-old man, had injuries to his face and leg. All were admitted to hospital.
Three of the bus passengers were treated in hospital for minor injuries. They have all since been discharged.
Police said the driver and six other passengers on the single-decker bus were treated at the scene.
The bus had 26 people on board.
A First Bluebird spokeswoman: "We can confirm that one of our Service 38 vehicles was involved in a collision yesterday at around 22:15 between Kirkliston and Winchburgh. The bus was travelling to Falkirk from Edinburgh.
"Unfortunately the incident resulted in a number of injuries and our thoughts are with the injured at this time.
"We have launched an investigation to establish exactly what happened and are assisting Police Scotland with their inquiries."


Donald Trump is now in Brussels on the latest part of his first foreign trip as US president, having left Rome and, earlier, the Middle East.

It is a trip that has not passed without incident - many of them bizarre, and plenty of them worthy of further analysis.
Settle down as we round up the more intriguing and awkward moments of his trip so far.
Pope Francis has been mostly smiles during his time at the Vatican - but apparently not when he met President Trump.
On Wednesday, the grin belonged entirely to The Donald while the pontiff came across somewhat stony-faced.
Social media wits joked that he had just learned he would have to listen to Mr Trump confess his sins.
Other photos from the occasion however showed the pontiff looking more cheerful. And President Trump seemed to have been inspired, later tweeting that he was "more determined than ever to pursue PEACE in our world".
A zoomed out version of the same photo showing Melania and Ivanka dressed in black has meanwhile spawned comparisons with the 1960s US TV series The Addams Family
Melania in black at the Vatican. Why?
The show featured a family of macabre oddballs who believed they were normal, and was famed for its catchy finger-snapping theme song.
From the Pope to something that had the appearance of the occult.
It was a surreal sight - President Trump and his Saudi and Egyptian counterparts placing their hands on a glowing globe (they were inaugurating a centre in Riyadh aimed at combating extremist ideology).
It's the image that launched a thousand memes. And when Satanists got involved, you knew things had become especially weird.
Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump team had touted the speech he would give on combating radicalisation. When he left, people were speaking only about The Orb.
A White House press statement about Mr Trump's visit to Israel said he would be looking to "promote the possibility of a lasting peach".
Given that he went on to give a speech speaking about peace in the region, we're guessing the White House statement should have referred to "peace" rather than the shelf life of a particular fruit.
The eagle-eyed observers with Israeli newspaper Haaretz spotted Melania Trump swatting away her husband's hand as he reached out for her.
Watch it for yourself - has he got tired of waiting for her to take his hand, and so withdraws it? Or is Melania really swatting her husband away? And did she do it again when they both landed in Rome on Tuesday? Make up your own minds.
If you're one of those people who looks for clues into the health of the Trumps' marriage, this may provide more fodder.
When Mr Trump arrived in Brussels, he had meetings with EU and Nato leaders. He has previously talked about how Britain leaving the EU is "great" and "fantastic", and how Nato is "obsolete" (before changing his mind).
Anyone expecting him to be at his most diplomatic, then, may have been puzzled by an on-camera moment when he appeared to push the prime minister of Montengro aside at photo time - putting Donald J Trump front and centre.
Mr Trump appeared to emerge from the back, and firmly - though not violently - push aside Dusko Markovic, before the US president fixed his coat, ready for the family photo.
It didn't go down well on social media. When JK Rowling tweeted the video, calling Mr Trump "you tiny, tiny, tiny little man", she was retweeted some 43,000 times.
More work here for body language analysts.
This clip, broadcast by the White House, showed Mr Trump with Israeli officials late on Monday.
He tells them - in Israel, remember: "We just got back from the Middle East", before quickly correcting himself: "We just got back from Saudi Arabia".
You can then see Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the US, seemingly put his head in his hand, only to quickly correct his gesture and brush his hair.
Again, watch the clip and make up your own minds.
Towards the end of the long line of people whose hands the Trumps had to shake when they arrived in Israel was Oren Hazan, an MP from the ruling Likud party.
There was just one problem - he wasn't supposed to be there.
Israeli media said he pushed his way through the line of dignitaries - and he then demanded a selfie with Mr Trump.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discreetly tried to stop Mr Hazan, whose career has been hit by scandal, but failed.
"I told Trump that they say I'm the Israeli Trump, I told him how excited I was," Mr Hazan told Israel's Ynet news site.
Israeli media said his brazen move had gone down badly with senior Likud officials.


Wall Street markets ended the day little changed, with investors cautious about President Donald Trump's pending meeting with China's Xi Jinping.

The Dow Jones rose 0.19% to 20,689, and the S&P 500 gained 0.06% to 2,360.1. The Nasdaq fell 0.07% to 5,898.6.
Ralph Lauren shares fell 4.5%, with the retailer's struggles seen as a worrying sign for a sector losing ground to online rivals.
Retailers Nordstrom closed down 5.5% and L Brands fell 4.4%.
Airlines were weak, with American Airlines dropping 3.7% after rival Delta Airlines cut the forecast for a key revenue metric for the second time in less than a month. Delta shares fell 2.6%.
Stocks saw some support earlier in the session when Trump said US infrastructure spending could top $1 trillion and said his administration was working on a major "haircut" for Dodd-Frank banking regulations.
The S&P industrial sector ended up 0.2%, while the materials sector closed up 0.4%.
Financial investors appeared sceptical, however, as the S&P bank subsector ended down 0.3%.