Officer under investigation after man ‘punched’ during arrest
A POLICE constable has been given a gross misconduct notice and is under criminal investigation after a video appears to show an officer punch a man multiple times during an arrest, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said.
Two officers from North Wales Police arrived at an address in Porthmadog on the morning of May 10 to reports of a disturbance. Footage shows an officer holding a man to the ground and appearing to punch him to the head while trying to arrest him. The arrested man is later seen with injuries to his face.
Following the emergence of the footage, which spread across social media quickly last month, North Wales Police has suspended an officer and referred itself to the IOPC to investigate whether force used was justifiable and proportionate and whether the arrested man was appropriately cared for in custody.
Yesterday, IOPC director David Ford said: “Based on the evidence we have reviewed so far, we have notified a police constable that they are under criminal investigation and have served them a gross misconduct notice. This does not necessarily mean that criminal or disciplinary proceedings will follow. We understand the officer has been suspended by North Wales Police. We have also served a misconduct notice on another police constable concerning the level of care provided to the man after his arrest.
“There has been considerable interest and public concern over the footage shared widely on social media, which shows some of the interaction between police officers and the man being arrested. We are progressing our investigation in a thorough and timely manner, carefully securing and examining a range of evidence to establish what took place during the whole incident.”
The IOPC added that it has now established that two officers had been sent to a reported disturbance at the address and located a man in the garden of a nearby house at 11.50am on May 10 where the man was arrested. The IOPC said footage shows an officer “striking the man to his head a number of times, while on the ground” before the same officer used incapacitant spray on the man as he was being placed in a police van.
En route to the police station the IOPC said officers noticed that the man appeared to be unwell and he was given first aid. He was then taken to hospital by ambulance before he was discharged and returned to custody.
The IOPC said it had examined police body-worn video and phone footage of the incident, taken witness statements, and located relevant CCTV footage.