{"id":18725,"date":"2021-05-01T01:24:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T05:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=18725"},"modified":"2021-05-01T01:24:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-01T05:24:18","slug":"met-pc-sacked-for-hitting-vulnerable-teenage-girl-with-baton-34-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/05\/01\/met-pc-sacked-for-hitting-vulnerable-teenage-girl-with-baton-34-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Met PC sacked for hitting vulnerable teenage girl with baton 34 times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Met Police officer has been sacked after hitting a vulnerable teenager 34 times with a baton.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 17-year-old girl, who was on escorted leave from a mental health unit, became distressed after becoming separated from a group in May 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A misconduct panel heard PC Benjamin Kemp tried to handcuff the teenager and then used CS spray less than a metre away from her face and his baton.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ch Supt Richard Tucker said the force used was “utterly inappropriate”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The family’s solicitors said it was a “deeply disturbing case where a black child with learning disabilities was brutalised”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there was no indication racial discrimination had been a factor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Following the hearing, the girl’s family said in a statement: “Rather than helping her as he should have done, he violently assaulted her, using up to 34 baton strikes and CS spray.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The panel heard the girl was seen near a main road in east London and police were called by a concerned member of the public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The girl herself flagged down a passing police car and body-worn video showed her telling officers she was a vulnerable child with mental health problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She agreed to get into the police car, but then got out of it, the panel heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Officers tried to speak to her but PC Kemp, of the Met’s North East Command, then attempted to use handcuffs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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‘Poor communication’<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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When this was unsuccessful, he then used CS spray before taking out his baton seconds later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The hearing followed an IOPC investigation into complaints made by an NHS Trust staff member and the girl’s mother.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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IOPC regional director Sal Naseem described the incident as “shocking”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He added: “Immediately resorting to use of force without considering other de-escalation tactics, and particularly where the person involved has mental health issues, is of concern.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“PC Kemp’s immediate reaction when the girl exited the police car was to try and handcuff her, even though he didn’t have her under his control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The poor communication by this officer got the incident off to a bad start and, once he started to use the baton, he was unable to change tack.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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