Wednesday, July 23, 2014



'I will knock you clean f***ing out': Policeman suspended after being caught on camera threatening a young woman TWICE as he patrolled a town centre

A police officer has been suspended after being caught on film apparently telling a woman twice: 'I will knock you clean f***ing out'.

The incident - which took place in Trinity Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, just after 2am on Sunday - was caught on camera phone by the boyfriend of 22-year-old Nikki Wright.

It seems to show the officer approach a group of revellers, and shout at her: 'Do that to me again and I will knock you clean f***ing out.'

The 1.07 minute clip then shows the officer apparently threaten her again.

After being challenged by her boyfriend Andrew Smith, 22, who asks him to repeat what he said, the police officer says: 'You heard, I said I will knock her out.'

He then asks a second time: 'You said you’d knock her out?'

He is then heard to say: 'Yeah, yeah. If she tries to throw a punch at me, of course I would.'

Staffordshire Police has confirmed they had suspended the officer from his duties after the video was passed onto them by the couple.

The footage was posted on Facebook and was seen by at least 800 people before being removed.

Miss Wright said 'I was really shocked when I saw the footage. If it had been the other way around and I had said that to him then I think I would have been arrested.

'You can hear in the video how panicked I am and that I’m close to tears. I’m not knocking the police, and the policeman we first spoke to was really nice.

'After this all happened he spoke to us and he was really calm.

'But I don’t know where that one particular guy came from and I don’t know why he threatened me.

'I was trying to help my friend who had collapsed and was shouting for an ambulance when this officer approached me and said what he said.

'I was so shocked. I have never been in trouble with the police before and I'm a law abiding person. How can a police officer be allowed to get away with this?'

The footage has also been passed to Staffordshire Police Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis.

A police spokesman said: 'Our communities expect only the highest standards of conduct from our officers, and while we recognise they can often face challenging situations, it is important that they remain professional throughout.

'A formal complaint has been taken in relation to the incident in Hanley involving one of our officers in the early hours of Sunday.

'We have reviewed the initial information and taken the decision to suspend the police officer concerned while we undertake a thorough and robust investigation into the complaint.

'It would not be appropriate to comment any further until the investigation has been concluded and experienced investigators from our performance assessment unit will be maintaining contact with the member of the public concerned.'

Mr Ellis added: 'I have been briefed on how the force is handling this issue and I am satisfied. 'I have also asked my head of performance to undertake his monitoring role to ensure proper process is followed.'

Staffordshire Police have also voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Staffordshire Police Federation and the suspended officer were unavailable for comment.

Original report here

 

 

 

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