Police contact with man who sustained injury – Greater Manchester Police, April 2018

In April 2018, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call from a man asking for police to attend at a bar or he would commit criminal damage to the premises. Three officers attended and the man was arrested to prevent a breach of the police. Two of the officers then transported the man to a nearby area, where they de-arrested him and tried to release him but he refused to be released.

The two officers then took the man to Manchester Royal Infirmary. The man remained outside talking to the officers through the open passenger doorway of the police van. The police van then set off and the man ran alongside holding onto the van before falling onto the road. The police van was driven across the hospital site, turned around and returned to the man. The man had got to his feet and had sustained a life-changing facial injury. 

The two officers then left in the police van and another officer who had been waiting for a colleague outside the hospital and had witnessed some of the incident tended to the man and took him inside for treatment. The two officers in the police van returned to their police station and the driver of the van then made a report of an incident to a sergeant, an inspector and another sergeant, as well as updated the incident log. 

The officer at the hospital made their supervision aware of the incident and a doctor at the hospital made a complaint to GMP on behalf of the young man.

An initial investigation was commenced by GMP. The matter was referred to the IOPC and the investigation was declared an independent IOPC investigation.

During the investigation, CCTV, body worn footage and data from the van was recovered and reviewed. We obtained statements from a number of officers and the young man’s initial

account was reviewed, along with relevant documentation and recordings of radio transmissions. Local guidance on road traffic collision reporting procedures and policy were reviewed as well as relevant legislation. The evidence indicated the reports were incomplete and did not contain key details of the incident. Three officers were interviewed under criminal caution.

Our investigation concluded in June 2019.

We concluded an officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct.

A misconduct hearing was held in late 2022, where gross misconduct was proven and the officer was dismissed from the police service. He will also be placed on the College of Policing barred list to prevent future employment with a police service. 

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. 

In this case, the investigation has not identified any organisational learning.