Fury as lawyer says: Punish PC who tasered machete maniac
A LAWYER was condemned for her ‘despicable’ suggestion yesterday that a heroic police officer should be disciplined for saving his life with a Taser during a vicious machete attack.
The row erupted as smirking Muhammad Rodwan, 56, was jailed for 16 years for attacking PC Stuart Outten after he stopped his white van because it was not insured.
The 29-year- old victim, later dubbed Britain’s bravest policeman, survived the onslaught last August only by firing his Taser twice at the homeless driver.
PC Outten had fallen to the ground as Rodwan came ‘in for the kill’ with a 2ft rusty blade. The Hero: PC Stuart Outten and his attacker Muhammad Rodwan thug was acquitted of attempted murder on Thursday and convicted of a lesser offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after jurors were not told about his violent past.
The trial judge ruled that evidence about a ‘strikingly similar’ machete attack by Rodwan on two men in 1996 and other convictions for rape and drugs should not go before jurors due to the length of time since the offence.
But yesterday solicitor Sophie Khan, who has represented people injured by Taser and campaigns against excessive use of the weapon, defended the convicted criminal by saying he acted in ‘self defence’ in the face of ‘excessive force’ from PC Outten.
She wrote on Twitter she was surprised the Metropolitan Police ‘haven’t started disciplinary action against PC Outten for assault and battery on Muhammad Rodwan’.
She added the officer’s actions ‘were in part found to be an excessive use of force’ and that the case had shown ‘there remains a risk to public by police misuse of Taser’.
Her criticism of the victim provoked outrage yesterday as Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh said: ‘This police officer stopped a man lawfully and politely asked him to get out of the vehicle because he did not have insurance.
‘He responded by getting out a machete and brutally attacking him and my colleague very nearly lost his life. If it wasn’t for that Taser, he would have died.
‘These comments are utterly despicable – she is not only inciting violence, but she is condemning a hero who detained a dangerous offender while he was fighting for his life.’
Mrs Justice Carr, sitting at the Old Bailey yesterday, rejected the notion that PC Outten had used excessive force, describing how ‘arrogant’ Rodwan flew into a rage when he was stopped by police for having no insurance in Leyton, East London, on August 7.
The judge told the criminal: ‘This was a brutal and shocking attack. I reject the unattractive submission that [PC Outten] was using excessive force in circumstances when you had assaulted him and forcibly resisted arrest.’
She praised the officer’s ‘presence of mind and fortitude’ in Tasering his attacker. Footage from his body-worn video shows PC Outten fighting for his life after Rodwan stabbed him repeatedly, fracturing his skull.
Bleeding from six gashes to the head and one to the arm, the officer Tasered Rodwan twice and brought him to the ground just as he prepared to strike again.
The judge told Rodwan, who had claimed he was acting in selfdefence: ‘I detect not a shred of remorse or insight on your part but rather belligerent arrogance.’
She ordered him to serve at least two thirds of his 16-year sentence, with a further three years on extended licence.
‘Her comments are utterly despicable’