A former police officer has been jailed for 12 months, six suspended, for shooting at a car and then lying in an official report into the incident by appeal court judges in The Hague.

The 49-year-old officer and a colleague were earlier sentenced to 18 months in jail for attempted murder and perjury. They both claimed the car was driving at them when the officer opened fire.

According to the court documents, the police officers thought the Volkswagen Golf was a decoy used by police to trap car thieves but it was actually a rental car provided by the same agency.

They approached it, guns drawn, when the car had stopped at traffic lights and opened fire when it drove off. Two people in the car, who did not notice the police officers at the time, were uninjured. Another car was also hit by gunfire.

The court said the original sentence was being reduced because the police officer had been dishonourably discharged and lost his pension. He was also under considerable work and personal pressure at the time and a court-appointed psychiatrist had found he was suffering from partial diminished responsibility.