Man injured due to CS spray - Hampshire Constabulary, November 2017

In November 2017, a woman called Hampshire Constabulary to report that a man was intoxicated and refusing to leave her home. She also told the call handler she was concerned the man would assault her boyfriend or sexually assault her. Three Hampshire officers went to the woman’s home and used various tactics in an attempt to physically remove the man after he refused to leave.

The man head butted one of the officers and the officers used CS spray against the man. The man was subsequently arrested and taken to Basingstoke custody suite. Two days later the man was taken to hospital for facial injuries suspected to have been caused by the CS spray.

During our investigation, our investigators attempted to contact via phone and letter the woman who made the call to the police and her partner, to obtain their versions of the incident, but were unsuccessful. Our investigators also made attempts to contact the man throughout our investigation. Successful contact was made in March 2018 and investigators took a statement from him in the same month. Investigators also obtained statements from the three officers who arrested the man, radio transmissions regarding the incident, custody CCTV footage, and the man’s custody record.

The evidence suggests that the man suffered an adverse reaction to being exposed to CS spray. The man recalled having a similar reaction the previous time he was exposed to CS spray. Although this reaction may have been caused by the CS spray being deployed from closer than the minimum three feet, there is evidence to suggest this action was justified and reasonable in the circumstances.

At the end of the investigation, no indication of misconduct by any of the officers during their interaction with the man was identified.