Complaint of use of excessive force - Metropolitan Police Service, January 2017

In the early evening of 11 January 2017, a woman dialled 999 and reported to police that she was pregnant and her brother had assaulted her. Two officers attended the address shortly afterwards. The information available to officers when they arrived indicated that there had been a verbal altercation between the brother and sister which had escalated, and the woman had bitten her brother on the finger. Body-worn video footage shows that one officer remained in the house with the brother while the other officer went out into the back garden to locate the woman, who was attempting to climb over the garden fence, out onto the street. The officer then approached the woman in the street outside the address, and attempted to speak to her about why she had called police. The woman appeared visibly confused and did not answer the officer’s questions.

Body-worn video footage shows that, while the officer was speaking with the woman, she had something in her hand and put her hand in her jacket pocket. The officer said that he thought the woman may have had a weapon, so he asked her to remove her hand from her pocket. The woman failed to comply with the command and officers then attempted to restrain her. Body-worn video footage shows that it took several minutes for the officers to apply handcuffs as the woman struggled with officers, attempted to strike out at them, grabbed one of the officers by the wrist and attempted to bite both officers several times.

Throughout the restraint, the woman said repeatedly that she was pregnant and was having a miscarriage. The officers stated that they were aware she may have been pregnant and they attempted to avoid contact with her stomach as much as possible. Body-worn video footage also shows that the woman was holding on to one of the officer’s wrist and would not let go. The officer delivered several distraction strikes to the woman’s head and upper body, which, she said, were the only places she could reach at that point. Body-worn video footage shows that there was a pause of one to two seconds between each strike but the woman continued to hold on to the officer’s wrist.

Once the woman was handcuffed, the officers informed her that she was under arrest on suspicion of assaulting her brother and assault against the police. Three further officers arrived and requested an ambulance, which arrived shortly afterwards. The woman was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment, and subsequently taken to custody. A physical examination was conducted and the woman sustained superficial injuries to her right knee and right cheek.

The woman later complained that that the officers had attacked her without asking any questions, and punched her to the face, even though she was the one who called the police originally.

Our investigators reviewed body-worn camera footage of the incident and obtained accounts from the attending officers. Contact was made with the complainant, who declined to co-operate with the investigation.

The Lead Investigator concluded that there was insufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could reach a finding of misconduct or gross misconduct against the attending officers.