Met police officer who ‘manhandled’ mom over bus fare discovered responsible of assault | EUROtoday

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A Met Police officer who “manhandled” and wrongly arrested a lady for bus fare evasion in entrance of her younger son, has been discovered responsible of assault.

PC Perry Lathwood, 50, of Norman’s Bay, East Sussex, assaulted Jocelyn Agyemang and brought on bruising accidents to her arm throughout the arrest on July 21 final yr in Whitehorse Road, Croydon, south London. He was convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday after a trial.

Footage of the arrest was extensively circulated on-line, exhibiting the girl repeatedly asking the officer to let go, and insisting that she had not performed something flawed.

Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram mentioned on Friday it was “not necessary to grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her.

“There were not reasonable grounds to suggest arrest was necessary,” he continued. “The officer made an error of judgment and overreacted.”

While he had initially been investigated by the IOPC for racially aggravated assault, this was not pursued and he was as a substitute charged with assault by beating.

The trial had beforehand heard cops have been serving to ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon on the time.

Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, mentioned Ms Agyemang was dropping her son off at her mom’s home earlier than heading to an appointment in Marylebone scheduled for 12.30pm.

After she and her son disembarked the bus at round 11am, she was requested to indicate she had paid her fare by a bus inspector.

“She does not hand it over and she walks off,” Mr Jarvis instructed the courtroom. “It is at this moment that Pc Lathwood becomes involved.”

He mentioned Lathwood put a hand on her, however she moved away, so he then grabbed her arm and arrested her for fare evasion.

A crowd gathered, with folks filming the officer and asking him why he had arrested her.

Footage posted on-line reveals the girl shouting “What the hell?” and “What the f*** is going on?” whereas handcuffed, as two male officers maintain her arms.

She repeatedly asks one of many officers to let go and says “I haven’t done anything wrong”, whereas a member of the general public movies what is going on and asks why she is being arrested.

Mr Jarvis mentioned Lathwood continued to carry her, demanding she faucet her card. He additionally handcuffed her.

Another officer took her Oyster card from her hand and went away with it to see if she had paid.

It was confirmed that Ms Agyemang had paid her fare and she or he was de-arrested on the scene. In her proof to the courtroom, Ms Agyemang gave proof to the courtroom and mentioned she felt “very violated” by the incident.

“I just felt like they did not care,” she mentioned. “I just felt a bit degraded because I had not done anything wrong.”

She added that the expertise was “very scary” and mentioned “I just remember the strong grip.”

“With things I have experienced in my past, when someone is holding me, especially when I feel like I have done nothing wrong, it is very scary for me.”

PC Lathwood also gave evidence and told the court he had “no idea” what else he could have done other than arrest her.

He said he arrested her to stop her from leaving the scene.

“Because of her actions and her refusal to show that card to other people who had continuously asked her to do so,” he said.

He was asked why he did not tell her why she was being arrested.

“If the card had come back as not paid we would have progressed and explained everything to her if she had allowed us,” he said.

The incident sparked an anti-racism protest outside of the local police station days later. Benjamin Clement, 53, who filmed the woman’s arrest was on the demonstration and instructed The Independent: “I saw just another Black person being abused by the police.”

“I just couldn’t believe the way they were handling the woman. They were trying to get her onto the floor at one point – she was so distressed and it just seemed like no one cared. Everyone was just standing around watching. So, I felt like I had to start filming.”

Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regional director Mel Palmer mentioned: “Any use of force by officers should be reasonable, proportionate and justifiable in the circumstances.

“This was a high-profile incident that caused significant concern, particularly in the Croydon community, after footage of the incident was published online.

“We carried out an independent and impartial investigation to establish the facts surrounding this incident, including the actions of the police officers involved.

“The decision to refer a file of evidence to the CPS to consider criminal charges is not something we take lightly and this was done after careful consideration of the evidence, including liaison with the CPS.”

The police watchdog mentioned it would now liaise with the power to progress disciplinary proceedings for the officer.

Lathwood shall be sentenced on the identical courtroom on 14 June.