Report from IPCC investigation into police officer who fired Taser at partially-sighted man in Lancashire published
26 Mar 2014 12:33 PM
The Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC) has published its findings from an investigation into
a police officer who discharged a Taser at a partially-sighted
man.
PC
Stuart Wright faced a gross incompetency meeting after an independent
IPCC investigation into his decision to discharge Taser on
Colin Farmer on Friday 12 October 2012 in Peter Street,
Chorley.
Mr
Famer, then 63, was walking away from PC Wright and posed no threat, the
IPCC investigation found. The officer claimed he mistook him
for a sword-carrying man that had been reported to Lancashire Constabulary by
members of the public.
Mr
Farmer, who had been walking with the aid of a white stick, was handcuffed
while lying on the ground and was not released until the arrival of another
officer, who PC Wright told: "I think I’ve got the wrong
person”.
The
IPCC report found that PC Wright –
•
Ignored instructions and radio transmissions about how officers were to search
the area and respond to any sightings of a man with a sword
•
failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain if Mr Farmer was carrying a sword
prior to Taser discharge
•
failed to comply with local and national guidelines in relation to the use of
Taser
•
used a level of force on Mr Farmer that was unnecessary and disproportionate to
the circumstances
•
caused further distress to Mr Farmer by detaining him in handcuffs despite it
being obvious he had the wrong man
The
IPCC recommended the officer had a case to answer for gross
misconduct.
Lancashire Constabulary held two-day gross incompetency
hearing that concluded on 25 March 2014 with a recommendation from the force
that PC Wright should be issued with a performance improvement notice and told
to apologise personally to Mr Farmer.
IPCC Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone said: "Mr
Farmer was subjected to what must have been a terrifying ordeal. Our view was
that PC Wright could and should have listened to instructions from his force
controller and taken greater steps to ascertain whether Mr Farmer was the
sword-carrying man that had been reported by members of the public and when he
realised his mistake should have acted quicker to put things right. There is
public concern about use of force, and, particularly, Taser. Incidents such as
this do little to ease that concern.
"I hope that the personal apology to Mr Farmer
allows the officer to reassure him that he will learn lessons from these events
and that the improvement plan for the officer and measures taken by the force
to improve its training and communications prevent further incidents such as
this.”
A
copy of the IPCC’s investigation report has been
published on our website here.