Allegation of excessive force by South Wales Police officer on Mohamud Hassan found not proven

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) received a referral from South Wales Police in January 2021, which led to our investigation into the actions of officers during the arrest and detention of Mohamud Mohamed Hassan. Mr Hassan was released without charge from police custody at about 8.30 am on 9 January that year and sadly was found dead after 10 pm at a property in Cardiff that evening.

We specifically looked at the contact police had with Mr Hassan, including whether force was used during his arrest and detention and if so, if it was reasonable, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances. 

IOPC Director David Ford said:

“Following the end of our investigation in July 2022 and having carefully considered the evidence obtained, we decided that a police sergeant had a disciplinary case to answer for gross misconduct over the force used in the custody suite at Cardiff Bay police station. 

“At the conclusion of a disciplinary hearing today (Wednesday), held at the force’s headquarters, and overseen by a legally qualified chair, the allegation of use of unnecessary force by the police sergeant on Mr Hassan was found not proven. 

“Our role has been to examine the actions, decision making and conduct of police officers involved. Only a police misconduct panel, led by an independent and legally qualified chair, can decide whether or not the case was proven. 

“Since completing our investigation, we shared our report with the coroner to assist with the inquest proceedings. It will be for the forthcoming inquest to determine exactly how Mr Hassan died and our thoughts remain with his family, and everyone affected by his death.”   

In respect of the other police officers we had served notices on during our investigation, we found one police constable had a case to answer for misconduct over information relevant to Mr Hassan’s welfare potentially not being communicated to custody staff. We found no case to answer for any other officers involved, but recommended that a custody officer and a police constable be required to take part in the reflective practice review process. This was to reflect on the adequacy of welfare checks they carried out while Mr Hassan was in custody.