British police goon gets let off

Underpants as a deadly weapon! The cop was just waiting for any excuse to unleash his Taser. The accused was no danger to anyone. Video at link

A police officer fired a Taser gun at a naked man, sending him crashing to the floor, because he threw his underpants at him.

Pc Lee Birch, 30, was acquitted of assault and misconduct by a jury, after he shot Daniel Dove with the 50,000-volt weapon when he flicked his boxer shorts at him.

CCTV images of the incident reveal Pc Birch was holding the Taser behind his back after Mr Dove was put into a police cell where he was ordered to strip naked for a search.

The 23-year-old had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly outside a nightclub that evening.

During the CCTV recording Pc Birch can be seen unclipping his Taser from his holster within seconds of entering the cell.

He then continues to hide it behind his back throughout the strip search before firing it at a naked Mr Dove.

Mr Dove is then seen crashing to the ground where Pc Birch grabs the boxers and throws them at the wall, before shouting "you have assaulted me, don't do that again".

During the week-long trial Mr Dove told Bristol Crown Court he was compliant throughout his arrest and gave Pc Birch no reason to open fire.

He said: "I was compliant up until a point when I felt like I was being humiliated, I was stripped completely naked and put on my knees with hand cuffs on.

"Pc Birch asked me to get naked in a strip search, which I did.

"You feel quite embarrassed, when I took them off it was a split second thing, I did it because I was annoyed."

He added: "I was not aware he had a Taser, he didn't tell me he had it or that he intended to use it.

"As soon as I flicked my pants at him he pulled his arm up from behind his back and shot me with it.

"He has not pulled it from a holster and said 'I will shoot you', he has just pulled it from behind his back and shot me.

"I didn't have any time to react or move, by the time I saw it.

"I don't know why he used it, I couldn't exactly move because there were three guys there so for him to use that on me was a bit irrational."

A jury took just 60 minutes to acquit the Wiltshire police officer of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and misconduct in public office, following the incident.

Pc Birch told the court he was "not looking for an excuse to use the Taser" and said he believed it was "reasonable and proportionate and not motivated by anger or malice".

He now faces an internal inquiry and investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Despite a judge ruling the footage could now be released to the media, Patrick Geenty, Wiltshire's Chief Constable, objected.

The footage was later leaked by a concerned member of the public.

The trial at Bristol Crown Court heard how Dove was arrested in the early hours of December 23 in 2012 outside a nightclub in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, after clashing with another man.

Bouncers called police when he refused to cooperate and he was detained for being drunk and disorderly.

During the arrest he allegedly tried to punch Pc Birch and kneed his colleague Pc Reed in the groin.

Dove was then taken into custody at Melksham where he was escorted to a cell by Pc Birch and two other officers to be searched.

Original report here

　

　

　

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