Officer’s actions examined after child reported missing from care home – South Yorkshire Police, April 2025

A local authority residential care home contacted the police in the early hours of the morning to report a child was missing. The carer said the child was autistic and described them as vulnerable. They said the child had recently self-harmed and had gone missing once before. They also reported the child was a potential risk to the public due to previous violent behaviour.

Officers saw a child fitting the description they had been given on a pavement. The child ran in the opposite direction when they saw the police car. One officer gave chase while another stayed in the police car and tried to cut off the route the child was running towards.

One of the officer’s approached the child with their baton extended and applied rigid handcuffs to their wrists. The officer placed the child into the back of the police car and drove the child to the police station. Care workers were asked to collect the child from the police station.

The officer removed the child from the back seat of the police car when the carer arrived. The child resisted the officer’s attempts to escort them towards the carer’s car and a scuffle ensued. The officer forced the child to the floor, momentarily holding them there while swearing. The officer then picked the child off the floor, escorted them to the carer’s car and removed the handcuffs.

It was reported that the officer continued to use inappropriate language and told the child to ‘grow up’. It was reported that the child had sustained a fractured right thumb.

We received a conduct referral from the force in late April 2025. A children’s rights advocate employed by the local authority contacted us in early May 2025 and made a complaint on behalf of the child.

The conduct referral we had received from the force became a complaint referral and we decided to independently investigate the officer’s interaction with the child, including whether they used unnecessary force by extending/drawing their baton and applying handcuffs to detain the child, and whether they used unnecessary and excessive force, causing an injury to the child’s right thumb. We also considered whether the officer used inappropriate language.

We secured the body worn video footage produced by the officer who used force, and copies of the airwave transmissions broadcast to responding officers. We also examined footage from two local authority CCTV cameras.

Statements were taken from the officer who used force, and the carer who collected the child from the police station. We considered the officer’s use of force form and examined relevant legislation, policies and procedures.

Our investigators contacted the child’s local authority carers to obtain a statement, but the child did not want to be interviewed or provide an account about what had happened.

We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings.

We found that the officer’s use of their baton was brief and it was immediately placed back into its sheath once the child had been securely and safely handcuffed. We found no evidence to suggest its use was gratuitous or unnecessary. We found it highly likely that the child may have been exposed to significant harm and risk if the officer had not used force to control the situation.

We did find that the choice of language the officer used was not in keeping with that expected from a police officer - even in a stressful and difficult situation. We recommended they be given advice about appropriate language.

The child was taken to a local hospital following the incident and examined. They were discharged and later re-attended as an outpatient, where no fractures or abnormalities were found. The child had a sprained wrist, but no further treatment was needed. It is possible that this may have occurred during the child’s transportation back to the care home with their carer, when the child punched the headrest.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

We did not identify any organisational learning in this case.