‘POLICEMAN PUNCHED BOY, 14, IN THE FACE’
OFFICER ACCUSED OF BEATING TEENAGER AFTER BEING CALLED TO HIS HOME
A POLICE officer punched a 14-year-old boy three times before arresting him to “cover up his wrongdoing”, a court has heard.
PC Paul Evans, 50, denies beating the teenager after being called to the boy’s family home in January this year.
Yesterday Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was left with a chipped tooth and a bloody nose after the incident in his bathroom.
Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, said the police officer, of Bridgend, was called to the address by the boy’s mother after she reported the teenager “smashing up the house”.
Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “The prosecution’s case is that the defendant was quite clearly told by [the boy’s family] that they were not making a complaint of any kind. They didn’t want [the boy] to be arrested, they simply wanted him to be spoken to.
“The police officer felt it to be a waste of time because there was nothing he could do.”
Opening the trial, Mr Pritchard-Jones said PC Evans became “annoyed” after the teenager started using “abusive” language when the officers knocked on the bathroom door, calling the officers “pigs” and telling them to “f*** off”.
He said: “The Crown’s case is that this would further annoy and frustrate the defendant. The officer overreacted and thought he would teach [the boy] a lesson... he stepped forward and put his forearm against [the boy’s] throat and forced him back against the toilet.”
The court heard the boy then called PC Evans a “p **** y” after the officer took away his phone while he was on a video call with a friend.
Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “This was the last straw. He reacted by punching [the boy] in the face. The agreed medical evidence is that [the boy’s] injuries were caused by at least three impacts taken to the face and one to the back of the head.”
The teenager was later arrested at his home on suspicion of affray but was released without charge later that day.
In a video interview played in the court, the boy said he had woken up in a “stinking mood” on the day of the incident and had become frustrated after playing on his Xbox.
He said: “I started shouting at my mum and punching the walls. I got a knife to cut my arms.”
The court heard the knife was taken off the boy by his grandmother before the police arrived.
The boy said: “[The police] were talking to me through the door and I said, ‘I don’t want to speak to you, go away.’
“He just punched me out of nowhere. He punched me again and I remember one more punch. He was saying it was for my own good and if I was his son he would do exactly the same.”
Susan Ferrier, defending, said the boy had previously made a hoax call claiming there was a nail bomb at his former school.
He also phoned the police on two occasions last year and lied about being assaulted by his grandmother.
She said: “[The boy] phoned police and said his grandmother needed locking up.”
When asked whether he was lying during the incident, the boy said: “I just don’t like police officers full stop as I know what they are like.”
Giving evidence, the boy’s mother said the teenager had been suffering from behaviour difficulties from nine months old and had been seeing a psychiatrist.
Describing the day of the incident, she said: “He was punching walls, being abusive, threatening to kill himself, I didn’t know what to do. I asked the police to come.”
“I heard [the boy] saying ‘you punched me, you chipped my tooth.’ I was scared to even go and look. I knew something wasn’t right.”
Also giving evidence, the mother’s partner said police had been called to the property between 10 and 15 times in response to the boy’s behaviour in the couple’s 20-month relationship.
He said: “His behaviour is quite difficult so we call the police as a scare tactic to get him to calm down as he is scared of being arrested. We wanted the police to have a word with him.”
Describing the teenager after the incident, he added: “His lip was swollen, his nose was pouring with blood.”
Evans denies assault by beating.
The trial continues.