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

On 11 February 2017, a man was arrested outside a police station in south London for alleged fraud by false representation. The man did not have sufficient funds to pay for a taxi fare. He was transferred to Wandsworth custody suite, where his detention was authorised. He was placed by force into a cell, after refusing to enter, complaining of claustrophobia.

The man’s father complained police officers used excessive force to place his son into the cell, injuring his arms and legs in the process. This came to our attention on 28 September 2017 as a complaint referral.

During this investigation, we obtained footage from the custody suite and from the taxi that the man had hailed. We also obtained a copy of the man’s custody record, statements from the arresting officers, and a transcript and recording from the man’s criminal interview. During the course of the investigation, it was identified that the man had told an officer he was autistic, but that the officer had failed to inform the custody sergeant, with the result that the man had been strip searched without an appropriate adult being present. We interviewed the officer under misconduct caution.

Based on the evidence available, we were of the opinion that the force used by the officers to place the man in the cell when he was resisting was the minimum necessary in the circumstances. We did not uphold this complaint.

Regarding the strip search, we found no evidence to suggest that the officer had deliberately withheld information about the man being autistic. We were of the opinion that the officer performed below the level expected of him and suggested that his performance had been unsatisfactory.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed that the most appropriate way to deal with this was through Unsatisfactory Performance Procedure for the officer.