a Metropolitan Police Department A police officer who sprayed a helpless teenager in the face was acquitted of assault charges.
Jack Beadle, 26, of the Army’s Southwest Command, was charged with assault with a bludgeoning and was acquitted at Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
His colleagues in the same unit, Sergeant Dave Mattock, 37, and Acting Sergeant Callum Ferguson, 26, have both been charged with the same crime against a 17-year-old boy. TootingSouth Londonin the early hours of April 2, 2022.
A teenage boy was allegedly pushed toward a parked car before being detained and arrested on suspicion of assaulting a paramedic.
The police officers were indicted following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Action (IOPC) into allegations that they used excessive force.
Prosecutor Sahil Sinha said the defendants had been on duty together “in plain clothes and in an unmarked police car” before boarding a bus.
The teenager was on his way to buy shoes from someone at the time of the incident, which occurred at the intersection of Southcroft Road and Crowborough Road, the court heard.
Sinha said the defendant stopped the bus after “policemen said they saw some kind of disturbance” on the top deck where the four were sitting.
Body-worn footage played in court shows police escorting four youths from a bus before the plaintiffs were taken to the ground in an attempt to escape.
A struggle ensued as officers tried to restrain him, and he appeared to have been beaten while on the floor.
In body-worn footage played in court, the plaintiff appears to yell, “Don’t touch me,” while being restrained, while his girlfriend says, “This is pure racism.” I can hear you saying.
“The first three youths who got off the bus were relatively calm and docile throughout,” Sinha said, but said the complainant escaped “easily.”
Mr Sinha then claimed he was “thrown to the ground”, showed “some resistance” and was beaten by Ferguson.
He later stated that “attacks to the groin and abdomen” were “perpetrated by Ferguson” before Beedle sprayed Pava in his face.
Beedle’s Guy Ludenberg said his client was “involved for a very short time” in Pava spraying a teenager who was “wrestling” with a colleague.
On questioning the plaintiff, he said: “Just before the Pava spray was released, you were resisting attempts to arrest you and you are angry.”
District Judge Tan Ikram said the plaintiff admitted that the only time Beedle sprayed him was that Paba had sprayed him, and that he had little involvement, telling Beedle: said.
The court was also shown surveillance camera footage. IOPCs Interview with claimant on 12 September 2022.
During an interview he said:
He claimed Ferguson was “swinging me around” before Mattock grabbed him as well and took him to the floor.
He said he was “slammed” into a bush after being handcuffed and lifted.
“The other officers weren’t hitting me, they were just trying to detain me, I was doing nothing,” he added.
He added: He was growling the whole time. He was making strange noises. ”
The trial is scheduled to end in the same courthouse on Tuesday.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/metropolitan-police-london-tooting-iopc-cctv-b2281453.html Police officer acquitted of assaulting teenager for spraying incapacitated