Assault Of A Police Officer - No Further Action

Case study summary

Our client was accused of assaulting a police officer. We criticised the police for their lack of video footage which would have shown that it was in fact our client who was assaulted and we obtained our own evidence to support this. The police agreed to drop the case.

Case study

Our client was arrested for an allegation of assaulting a police officer. The police said that he had been arguing with police officers after being ejected from a pub on Deansgate in Manchester. They proceed to arrest our client and they say that, during the arrest, our client resisted and kicked on of the officers in the leg. Our client was represented by another firm of solicitors at the time of the interview but he approached our firm afterwards for help because he wanted a more pro-active approach to be taken.

We met with our client who told us that he was a working man of good character and he had a young daughter with his partner. He was concerned about the impact that a criminal conviction would have on his life and particularly his job in banking. In relation to the allegation, our client accepted that he had been drinking alcohol whilst watching the rugby and he could not remember much of the events leading up to his arrest. However, he knew that the allegation sounded completely out of character for him and he wanted us to explore this further.

We obtained notes from our client's previous solicitors and following a review of this and further discussions with our client, it became apparent that that no body worn video footage or CCTV had been disclosed. The police said that the body worn video footage did not show anything of relevance. This instantly raised alarm bells for us and we sent a request to the police asking that CCTV from the area was obtained immediately in the absence of body worn video footage.

We then began to speak to our client's friends and family members. His brother, brother's partner and her parents had been present at the time of his arrest. They all confirmed that they did not see our client kick any police officer and instead told us that it was in fact our client who had been kicked and punched in the stomach by an officer during his arrest. We obtained witness statements as well as character references from other members of our client's family and his friends who could confirm his good character.

We prepared representations which required the police to review the case and consider not taking it any further. We highlighted that the lack of body worn video footage was concerning and once they reviewed the CCTV as we had requested, we were sure that it would reflect our client's version of events rather than that of the police officer's. Our client's account was further supported by the witness statements which we had obtained from his family members who were present.

The police reviewed our representations alongside the supporting evidence which we had collected and decided not to take the case any further. Our client was extremely relieved.