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A British Transport Police (BTP) constable has been found guilty of assaulting a man who had Taser used on him during an incident at Derby Railway Station.

Another BTP officer was cleared of the same charge at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

PCs Andrew Spiby and John Severns had both denied common assault.  PC Severns was found not guilty and PC Spiby was convicted following a two-day trial which ended on 12 April. The verdicts were announced recently (Tuesday 23 April) and PC Spiby will be sentenced on 10 June.

It follows an IOPC investigation into an incident on 28 May last year (2018) when two men were arrested after the BTP officers were called to reports of a disturbance involving a group of people on one of the station platforms.

PC Spiby deployed a Taser on one of the men, who also had incapacitant spray used on him twice by PC Severns.

IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell yesterday said:

“This was a serious incident which was witnessed by onlookers, including several young people. Police are entitled to use force but only if it is necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances. 

“The public have to have confidence that officers will conduct themselves appropriately and in this case the court took the view that PC Spiby did not do so.”

Our investigation began when we received a referral from BTP last July after the man involved complained about the level of force used on him, and the effect of the incident on other members of his family present.

We completed our investigation in October and sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charges in January. 

A report from our investigation found a case to answer for gross misconduct against PC Spiby and for misconduct against PC Severns.

During our investigation we reviewed footage of the incident from the officers’ body worn video and mobile phone footage recorded by a member of the group involved.