Response to reports of assaults - Avon and Somerset Constabulary, April 2017

At 6.19pm on 3 April 2017, a member of the public called 999 to report that a man had assaulted another man in Stokes Croft, Bristol. The caller followed the assailant, and provided the Avon and Somerset Constabulary call handler with updates on his location.

A number of officers attended the scene. The victim made it clear that he did not wish to engage with the officers, and left. One witness gave one of the officers the name of the alleged assailant.

At 7.32pm that day, police received reports that another man had been assaulted near the Old Market roundabout, Bristol. The victim said he had been attacked by the same person named previously.

At 6.25am on 4 April 2017, a member of the public called an ambulance after finding a man collapsed in Dove Street South, Bristol. This was the same man who had been assaulted the preceding evening and refused to co-operate with police. He was taken to hospital and put into an induced coma. He subsequently regained consciousness, but continued to have problems with his memory.

Officers arrested the offender later that day. He was later found guilty of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment.

Investigators reviewed available body-worn camera footage and relevant material from the prosecution file, and obtained accounts from a number of officers and one police staff member under misconduct caution.

At the end of the investigation, based on the evidence available, we identified performance issues for one member of police staff and two officers. Avon and Somerset Constabulary reviewed our investigation report and agreed with our findings. The force proposed to deal with this through debriefs with the police staff/officers, to include learning focusing on the areas where performance can be improved in future. We agreed that their proposals were appropriate.