Complaints of use of excessive force - Durham Constabulary, November 2016

On 8 November 2016, six police officers from Durham Constabulary went to a public house in Darlington to arrest a man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and witness intimidation. The man did not co-operate and an altercation took place. Police officers used force against the man during this incident. One officer deployed pepper spray, another officer Tasered the man, and another officer punched him several times to the head. The officers handcuffed the man and placed him in a police van and took him in to custody.

The next day, the man complained to Durham Constabulary that the force used during his arrest was excessive and that he had suffered injuries to his face as a result.

Durham Constabulary obtained CCTV footage from the public house which appeared to show one officer striking the man to the face five times immediately before handcuffing him and then strike him again a moment later. After viewing the CCTV footage, Durham Constabulary referred the complaint to us.

The IOPC reviewed the CCTV footage, which appeared to show that the man resisted officers when they came to arrest him. The Lead Investigator’s view was that this would justify officers using reasonable and proportionate force in order to effect his arrest.

During the investigation we interviewed the officer who struck the man under the criminal and misconduct caution for allegations which included that he may have used excessive force and that he may have recorded details in his statement which may not be accurate in order to retrospectively justify his use of force. We also interviewed another officer under the misconduct caution as the CCTV footage appeared to show that he witnessed this use of force but did not intervene or subsequently report it.

Based on the evidence available the Lead Investigator was of the view that a reasonable tribunal may find that one of the officers had a case to answer for gross misconduct for:

• Delivering five strikes to the man when the successful use of the Taser had caused the man to be incapacitated – a use of force which may be considered excessive.
• Striking the man one final time when he was being handcuffed, as he believed the man might bite him, when CCTV footage does not appear to corroborate this account.
• Including inaccurate details in his use of force report to possibly try and justify his use of force.

The Lead Investigator was of the view that a reasonable tribunal may find that the second officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct for:

• Failing to intervene when the other officer struck the man and failing to challenge him.

We also found indications that the officer’s use of force against the man may be considered as assault and we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS authorised a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the officer. The officer was later acquitted at court.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed to hold a gross misconduct hearing for both officers.

At the hearing in summer 2018, an independent panel found that gross misconduct was not proven for the second officer. No further action will be taken against that officer. The panel also concluded that the first five punches used by the first officer were reasonable in the circumstances, but that the sixth punch amounted to gross misconduct. The officer was dismissed without notice. The officer appealed the decision, and, in spring 2019, an appeals tribunal found the grounds for appeal made out, and the allegation not proven. The officer was reinstated.