Allegations of assault while in custody - Sussex Police, January 2015
On 2 January 2015 Sussex Police officers arrested a man for being drunk and disorderly. He allegedly spat and was verbally abusive towards the officers while he was being transported to a custody suite in the back of a police car. The officers removed the man from the car and restrained him on the ground while waiting for a police van to continue the journey to the custody suite. He received a number of injuries while he was restrained on the ground. On arrival at the police station the man was assessed by a healthcare professional, who advised he didn’t need any medical attention. The following morning, he was seen by a nurse, who advised the man should be assessed in hospital. The accident and emergency discharge record shows the man had bruising to the right side of his face and right side of his chest
The man subsequently complained to the force that he had been assaulted by two police officers on his way to custody. The force investigated this complaint locally and found no case to answer. The man appealed against the outcome of the investigation. After reviewing the force’s initial investigation and following an appeal by the complainant, we decided to investigate the matter ourselves in January 2017.
During the investigation, our investigators interviewed the two officers, reviewed all material gathered by Sussex Police Professional Standards Department and liaised with the complainant via his solicitor.
The Investigator concluded there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find that the officers had a case to answer for gross misconduct for use of excessive force and for not following policy and training. We sent our report to Sussex Police in October 2017.
After reviewing our report, the force disagreed with the Investigator’s conclusions and considered that there was insufficient evidence upon which a tribunal could conclude the officers had breached the standards of Professional Behaviour. They provided rationale for their views.
After an extensive exchange of views with the force, we directed Sussex Police in March 2018 to hold gross misconduct proceedings for both officers.
The two officers appeared before a gross misconduct panel in July 2018. The panel concluded that the officers had a case to answer for misconduct, and not gross misconduct. Both received a written warning, which will remain on their records for 12 months.