PC ‘stabbed himself in head’, hearing told

A POLICE officer allegedly stabbed himself in the head in order to pretend he had been assaulted, a misconduct hearing was told yesterday.

Pc Anthony Colson is alleged to have made several false statements after claiming he was attacked in a car park.

A misconduct hearing was told Pc Colson used the emergency button on his radio after attending the Beechwood car park in Boston, Lincs, just before 8.30pm on Nov 18 2016. This sparked an “urgent” response, with national air support and dog handlers from two outside forces being deployed to the scene, the hearing heard.

Officers who attended the car park found Pc Colson with lacerations to his head and right hand. A craft knife was found in a ditch just a metre away.

Oliver Thorne, opening the case at Lincolnshire Police headquarters, said Pc Colson was seen to have lacerations to the head and his hand. He claimed to have been assaulted and said he had seen a figure running into the woods.

But Mr Thorne told the hearing a doctor believed the injuries were “in fact self-inflicted” by a sharp object. The doctor said he would have expected the wounds to be much deeper and more varied in shape if inflicted by an assailant.

Pc Colson is accused of breaching professional standards by making statements he knew or believed to be false. He denies five allegations.