A policeman has faced disciplinary proceedings after CCTV footage revealed he had discharged CS Spray into the face of a man who was already being restrained by three other officers.
The footage was revealed during a Police Ombudsman investigation into the incident. The investigation was one of a number of investigations the Police Ombudsman's Office undertook in 2004 when the PSNI asked it to investigate all use of the spray in the last five months of that year.
The incident in question began in the early hours of the morning of 22 September 2004 when a police officer came across a traffic incident in Wellington Place where a car had collided with a pedestrian barrier.
When they spoke to the driver of the car it appeared that he had been drinking. As one of the officers began to arrest the driver, the man hit him. Although three other officers restrained the man, he continued to struggle and again hit the arresting officer on the head. The officers then managed to bring the driver to the ground.
A fourth officer who had been watching this approached the driver, shouted a warning to him to stop struggling and then sprayed the man in the face. The man was later put in the back of a police Land Rover and taken to Musgrave Street station. He subsequently appeared in court and was convicted of assaulting police, resisting arrest and various motoring offences.
Police Ombudsman investigators visited the scene of the incident later that day but did not identify any forensic opportunities. They spoke to the police officers involved, examined the CS Spray canister and the documentation which had been completed following its use.
The investigators contacted the man who had been sprayed but he choose not to cooperate with the Police Ombudsman team. No other witnesses were identified.
The Police Ombudsman staff also seized a copy of CCTV pictures which had captured the incident.
The policeman who used the spray was interviewed and said that although the driver had been brought to the ground, he continued to struggle. The policeman said he did not believe the man had been restrained and felt that he still posed a threat.
The Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, expressed concern at the course of events shown on the CCTV footage.
"At a crucial stage, police accounts stated that the man was still struggling on the ground as police attempted to place handcuffs on him. The CCTV, however, appear to contradict these accounts in showing the that driver was being controlled by three officers at the time the Constable used his spray, and although still to be handcuffed, had stopped struggling.
The video coverage would seem to suggest that the threat the man posed was minimal and the use of the CS Spray could have been avoided," added Mrs O'Loan.
The officer has since been the subject of informal PSNI disciplinary proceedings.
The Police Ombudsman's Office also has recommended to the PSNI that the CCTV footage in question could be used as part of the training programme for officers.
