British police officer facing the sack for setting dog on boy, 15, and kicking him in the throat as he made arrest

The kid was undoubtedly scum but kicking anybody while they are down is always dubious

"A police dog handler who kicked a 15-year-old boy in the throat while his dog attacked him may be thrown out of the police force.

PC Kevin Peel, 44, assaulted the teenager in the early hours of the morning in a supermarket car park after the boy, who was carrying a bag of bolt croppers, tried to flee with other youngsters from police. Westminster Magistrates Court heard how the teenager initially fled on his bike before he was caught outside Sainsbury's in Vauxhall, south London.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he struggled to breathe after the Metropolitan Police Service officer kicked him twice in the throat, and called him a 'thieving c***'.

The trial heard he and a number of friends were being pursued by officers in marked cars in the early hours of the morning on 17 July last year.

The teenager said he had attempted to flee as he was carrying bolt-croppers, but said that after cycling away from the rest of the group, he was followed by Peel’s car which had its windows down. 'He was telling me to stop or he was going to let the dog out,' he said.

The teenager said he continued to cycle around the car park but after dumping the bag near some trolleys he stopped and rested against a wall of the supermarket near to the police car.

He said the dog then jumped out of the window of the vehicle and bit him, causing him to come off his bike.

The victim, who is now 16, said he was left lying on his back on the ground while the seven-stone German Shepherd named Oscar continued to bite him before Peel got out of the car and approached him.

Giving evidence behind a screen, the boy told the court: 'He started kicking me on my waist. This is while the dog was biting me. 'Then he kicked me in my throat the second time. I couldn’t breathe properly. I was coughing', he said.

Peel, from Crawley, West Sussex, denied kicking and swearing at the boy and said he was trying to get the police dog off the boy. Asked if he had kicked the boy Peel, a serving police officer since 1990, said: 'Of course I didn't.' 'I was actually fighting with the police dog to get away.'

Finding Peel guilty of assault, District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe said: ‘I have to say that I cannot see how a kick could possibly be considered reasonable force in the position where there is a 15 year-old boy already on the ground and there are three police officers and one police dog.

‘But I have to say in all the circumstance of this case, having heard the evidence, I have absolutely no doubt that you kicked him and I find you guilty of assault.’

She acquitted Peel of a public order offence, in relation to his use of the word ‘c***’, but fined him £500 plus £500 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

The district judge said the boy would not receive any compensation as he did not receive any lasting injuries.

Peel’s lawyer, Matthew Butt, said the verdict meant the policeman would lose his job 'without any doubt'.

Earlier, PC Vincent Turner, a witness to the episode, told the court how he encouraged the victim to take deep breaths to help him get his breath back after he had been kicked.

Shaven-headed Peel, dressed in dark suit and blue tie, wept as the verdict was announced. He was supported by several fellow officers in the public gallery.

The boy later received a police caution for going equipped for theft, the court heard.

Original report here




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