Police tasering of man who set fire to house ‘necessary’

● Watchdog backs weapon use after man threw TV and shears at officers

Using a Taser twice on a man who threw garden sheers and a TV at Polce Scotland officers during a stand-off was “proportionate and necessary”, a watchdog has ruled.

A Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) report said the man had thrown objects, including a TV and garden shears, at officers and also set fire to a house.

Officers were sent to the property in Balintore, Easter Ross, on 1 August last year after John Macdonald’s mother phoned 999 at about 5pm saying her son had damaged her home, was drunk and threatening violence.

Firearms officers were told to attend the scene “discretely armed”, place a cordon around the property, negotiate with Macdonald and enter if necessary. However, the Pirc investigation found they went to the scene shortly after 7pm “visibly armed” and Macdonald was “aggressive and hostile” towards them.

He smashed a living room window with a golf club, showering them with glass.

They pointed weapons at the 42-year-old, but he refused to drop the club and he then threw a dart, narrowly missing the officers.

At 8:30pm, police noticed Macdonald had started a fire at the bottom of the staircase in the home and they decided to enter, put the blaze out and arrest him.

When they went in the house he hurled various items at them from the top of the stairs, including a television, garden shears and a metal pole.

Officers threw a flashbang grenade into the upstairs hallway as a distraction before going upstairs to find Macdonald sitting on a bed.

They pointed an automatic assault weapon and a Taser at him, ordering him to show his hands to check for weapons.

He refused and was Tasered, leading him to fall to the floor.

He again failed to show his hands and was Tasered a second time before doing so, the Pirc report said.

Macdonald was arrested and later pleaded guilty at Inverness Sheriff Court to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

The Pirc investigation report states: “Following the man failing to comply with instructions to show his hands to ensure he was not in possession of a weapon, the use of Taser to bring the incident to a rapid conclusion was necessary and proportionate.”