Police conduct with a child during journey to hospital investigated – West Yorkshire Police, October 2023

A child was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to custody. In custody, the child told their appropriate adult that they had taken an overdose of paracetamol earlier that day.

Two police officers were told to take the child to hospital. The child was abusive towards the officers during the journey and was arrested for assaulting an emergency worker.

The child continued to be abusive towards the officers and staff at the hospital. The officers placed the child in leg restraints and a spit guard. They were restrained for several minutes until a doctor arrived.

The child was discharged by the doctor and taken back to the police car. The child was in a spit guard during the journey back to custody.

Senior officers reviewed body worn video of the incident, raising concerns about how the officers had dealt with the child. We received a referral about the officer’s conduct from the force.

We decided to independently investigate the officers’ contact with and treatment of the child, including whether the force they used was justified, reasonable and proportionate, and the subsequent reporting of the incident. We also considered whether the officers treated the child differently because of their age and potential disability.

Our investigators examined body worn video, took statements, and reviewed custody footage, as well as taking accounts from the officers and the child. We obtained the training records for each officer and reviewed the duty statements and use of force forms that the officers completed. We also reviewed the officers’ actions against local and national policies.

We concluded there was no evidence that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence, but the officers had behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings.

We found that the officers had a case to answer for gross misconduct with regards to their use of language, level and use of force, and behaviour towards the child. We found evidence that the officers were disrespectful towards the child, using derogatory terms to describe them, swearing at and about the child, and escalating the situation. We also found their use of force were not justified or proportionate in parts.

We shared our report with the force, who agreed. We decided that disciplinary proceedings should be brought against the officer and that they should take the form of a gross misconduct hearing.

We did not find any evidence that the officers discriminated against the child due to their age and the officers were not aware of any potential disability. We also found that the officer’s inaccurate reports of the incident were because of poor reporting skills, and not a deliberate attempt to mis-lead.

The gross misconduct hearing concluded in March 2025. The officers were found to have breached the police standards of professional behaviour for authority, respect and courtesy, conduct, and use of force. These amounted to a finding of misconduct and the officers were given written warnings.

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.