WIREDGOV

A police disciplinary panel has concluded that three Bedfordshire Police officers were dishonest about the arrest of a man with a broken neck in 2013. All three were dismissed after the panel found they had committed gross misconduct.

Julian Cole was severely injured following an altercation outside a nightclub in Bedford in March 2013. He was paralysed and suffered serious brain damage and remains in hospital.

At a hearing which opened on 8 October, PCs Hannah Ross, Nicholas Oates and Sanjeev Kalyon were found to have provided dishonest accounts of the night’s events during an IOPC investigation, which concluded in September 2016.

The PCs were also found to have committed misconduct when they failed in their duty to conduct welfare checks on Mr Cole, following a period of restraint outside the club.

Police Sergeant Andrew Withey was found to have committed misconduct in failing to direct that Mr Cole be taken to hospital instead of being transported to Greyfriars police station. He received a final written warning.

As part of our investigation we also made a number of learning recommendations to Bedfordshire Police including improving first aid training to bring it in line with national policy.

Our investigation gathered evidence from a large number of witnesses, a large number of sources of CCTV and received advice from two medical experts.

It was probable that Mr Cole, who was 19 at the time, sustained his injury during one of two periods of restraint whilst outside Elements nightclub. We were of the opinion that the decision to restrain Mr Cole was justified in the situation and it would not be possible for a tribunal to determine how or when Mr Cole sustained a fractured neck.

IOPC Regional Director Sarah Green said: “Julian Cole was a young athletic man whose life was changed forever. It will never be known exactly how his neck was broken, or if swifter care could have prevented the awful consequences of the break.

“The panel today have concluded however that the officers failed in their duty to provide adequate welfare checks, and worse, that three of them were dishonest in how they presented their version of events.

“This dishonesty has only added to the anguish of Mr Cole’s family.

“We made learning recommendations to Bedfordshire Police as our investigation progressed and received feedback that as a consequence the force had improved its first aid training and conducts a continuous programme of review to ensure the training is current and relevant.”