Pc Neil Roper, 49, was shot twice as he and Pc Broadhurst went to handcuff American David Bieber at the roadside in Leeds on Boxing Day in 2003.

Bieber, who was wanted on a murder charge in the US, executed Pc Broadhurst, 34, at point-blank range but Pc Roper survived after surgeons extracted one of the bullets from his abdomen and removed part of his bowel.

Now Pc Roper, who was left feeling suicidal following the attack but returned to work in 2004, is prepared to go to an independent tribunal to demand more money in compensation for his injuries.

He was offered £22,562 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in 2006 but the award was turned down by lawyers acting for the Police Federation.

The sum is a fraction of the £485,000 paid by the Ministry of Defence last year to an RAF typist who injured her thumb while typing computer data at work.

Pc Roper is due to retire from the police next year but a report prepared by a consultant psychiatrist suggests he could be affected by his ordeal for up to 10 years.

"My life will probably never be the same again after what happened with Bieber but I can't even begin to move forward while the case drags on and on," Pc Roper said.

"The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is supposed to be there to help the victims of crime but all they've done is cause me grief and worry.

"I've filled in all the forms over and over again, answered all the questions and provided all the reports from the specialists but there's still no end in sight after almost four years and it's just shocking really."

Bieber was told he would die in jail after being convicted of murder and attempted murder in 2004 but his sentence was cut to a minimum 37 years in August.

A CICA spokesman said: "In cases involving major injury it can take several years for the extent of that injury to be clear.

"But we do everything we can to make compensation payments to victims as quickly as possible.

"Accepting a decision made quickly doesn't mean you lose out if your injury gets worse later because we can reopen cases if medical evidence shows that someone's injury would now attract a higher level of compensation."