Man sustains injury during arrest - Thames Valley Police, May 2017

On 28 May 2017 Thames Valley Police received a 999 call from a member of the public reporting a man chasing a woman with a hammer. Two police officers located the man, and one of them used force in order to restrain him, tackling him off a low wall onto the floor. During this arrest the man sustained a serious injury to his leg. He was taken to a police station, where an ambulance was called. On arrival at the hospital the injury was diagnosed as a fracture serious enough to warrant referral to us.

Our investigators examined the incident logs and 999 call initially made to the police in order to understand the background to the incident. They interviewed the officers involved and took statements. We watched the body-worn video footage available and made attempts to find in the area other CCTV that may have captured the incident. We also examined CCTV from the police station as well as the man’s custody record. From this we analysed the level of medical care received by the man and estimated at what point the injuries were received.

Evidence indicated that the man’s injury was caused by his contact with the police as, prior to this, he did not appear to have any such injury. The man’s injuries would appear to be consistent with the type of force used by the police officer, as recorded in his statement and the Use of Force record. There is no evidence available that would indicate that these injuries were sustained anywhere else. We found no indication to indicate that the use of force was not proportionate or justified.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.