West Midlands Police officer found not guilty of assault

11 Jun 2019 03:33 PM

A West Midlands Police officer has been cleared of assault following an incident in which man who had been detained suffered a head injury.

PC Sunil Narr was found not guilty by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (7 June) following a week-long trial. He had denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The allegation arose from an incident in the Hillfields area of Coventry early on 1 August 2017 when a man was detained following a police pursuit. The man suffered a head wound when he was struck with a baton by PC Narr. The officer told the court that he had not deliberately aimed at the man’s head.

We carried out an investigation following a referral from the force and a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS made the decision to charge PC Narr with assault in September last year (2018).  

Our investigation also concluded that an independent tribunal could find that PC Narr had breached standards of professional behaviour during the incident and the force agreed. It is expected that a gross misconduct hearing will be organised by the force in due course.