Injury of a man during police contact - Hampshire Constabulary, April 2023

In July 2023, police encountered a vehicle driving erratically and without lights whilst they were responding to reports of a stolen vehicle. The police signalled for it to stop but the vehicle failed to stop and, after a short pursuit, collided with a fence. 

The driver decamped from the vehicle and continued to evade police when instructed to stop by a police officer with a dog. The dog was released to detain the driver. Although the dog caught up with the driver, he did not detain him by biting him. Consequently, the officer detained the driver by tackling him to the ground. As this left the dog running around in the road, the officer called the dog to him. 

When the dog reached the officer’s side, the officer was attempting to detain the driver, who was shouting whilst on the floor. The dog then bit the driver on the head. The officer immediately pulled the dog off and put him back on the lead. 

The driver was given medical attention by police officers and paramedics before being taken to hospital. He was arrested for theft of a motor vehicle. 

Our investigators attended the scene and conducted thorough door to door enquiries, resulting in witness statements and recovery of CCTV footage. The footage, police officers’ body worn camera footage, was analysed and compared, along with radio transmissions and experts’ reports. 

Our investigation concluded in October 2023.

During the investigation, there was no indication any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence.

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.