Police sergeant faces the sack after he is caught on CCTV grabbing drunk 14-year-old boy by the throat in cells

A police sergeant who grabbed a drunken 14-year-old by the throat and branded him a 'horrible little individual' faces the end of his career after he was convicted of assault.

Sgt Steven Rea, 39, of Chelsfield, Kent, was caught on CCTV attacking the teenager in the custody area of Bexleyheath police station in southeast London.

The Met Police officer then advised subordinate police officers who were propping up the boy: 'I tell you what - let him drop.'

When the victim appeared to slump over the sergeant's desk during the incident last October 13, Rea said: 'Get off my desk, you horrible little individual.'

Rea claimed he only tried to lift the teenager up but District Judge Jeremy Coleman rejected his defence after a trial at Westminster Magistrates Court.

The judge said: 'In the custody suite he [the victim] was being difficult and irritating. However, he was not being violent.

'Sgt Rea decided to use shock tactics and he agrees that CCTV shows him accurately and he did this in order to gain his cooperation.

'He had lost his temper and left the neutral area behind his desk. What he did next was completely out of character.' The assault Rea then perpetrated on the boy went well beyond 'necessary force, albeit after provocation', the judge said.

William Emlyn-Jones, defending, told the court: 'This finding will undoubtedly bring this career to an end.'

Relatives of Rea openly wept in the gallery as the verdict was read. CCTV footage played in court showed how Rea attacked the boy as he was lying on a bench at the police station.

Rea was behind his desk when he told the teenager: 'Right your [custody] clock starts now, young man'.

The boy then raised his middle finger.

Rea moved around his desk and shouted: 'Now you have f****** upset me, get up, stop being a p****', before picking the victim up by the throat and roughly shoving to the floor and then across the room.

The boy had been arrested earlier in the night after the theft of a bottle of vodka from Iceland.

Questioning Rea about the assault on October 13 last year, prosecutor Carl Kelvin asked: 'How is that compliant with your officer safety training on how to deal with people who are an unknown risk or potentially show aggression?'.

'I took a calculated risk in what I did', Rea replied.

Mr Emlyn-Jones claimed his foul language merely added 'emphasis' and did not reflect any 'anger'.

Rea claimed he only tried to lift the boy, adding: 'I expected him to lift himself with my assistance.'

His barrister hailed him as an 'exemplary character' and a 'public servant'.

'The use of force was not just necessary but clearly unavoidable by his [the victim's] conduct. Something had to happen - something had to be done about him. 'He couldn't couldn't be allowed to just loll about in the custody area. The only question is whether he [Rea] used reasonable force. 'All he did in fact was try and pick him up. He didn't slap him, or punch him, or kick him.

The judge accepted that the victim had been 'deliberately uncooperative' but said there was no doubt the sergeant's actions amounted to assault by beating.

Stan Fitzpatrick, an inspector at Bexleyheath Police Station, had told the court earlier that Rea was 'a credit to my team.' 'I certainly would have him back anytime', he said.

Rea was handed a six month conditional discharge and costs of £500.

He denied the charge but was convicted of assault by beating.

Detective Chief Superintendent Alaric Bonthron, MPS Directorate of Professional Standards said: 'The custody sergeant has responsibility for the welfare of those within the custody suite especially the young and vulnerable.

'The public has a right to expect that anyone brought into a custody suite will be treated in an appropriate manner.

'Steven Rea let everyone down when he assaulted this boy and it is right that he has been convicted at court.'

Original report here



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