A Police Ombudsman investigation into an incident during which CS spray was used against a prisoner who had escaped from a police car resulted in two police officers being recommended for disciplinary action.
The incident happened on 25 June 2010 after officers from Belfast Harbour Police (BHP) were called to the Odyssey Arena to deal with a drunken male (Man A) who was refusing to leave the premises.
After speaking to the man, in order to defuse the situation, the officers agreed to give him a lift to Belfast city centre to meet his friends.
After dropping him off as College Square East, the officers were driving away when they saw him attempting to pull the front seat passenger out of another vehicle. The officers intervened and arrested Man A for Disorderly Behaviour.
He was then placed in the rear of the police vehicle, but almost immediately managed to escape by the door on the other side. He ran off, only to run into a stationary vehicle which allowed police to recapture him.
As one officer spoke to the driver of the vehicle Man A had run into, another officer escorted him back to the police car and then sat beside him in the rear of the vehicle. Man A then threatened the officer and attempted to push him out of the vehicle.
Hearing the disturbance, the other officer rushed to assist his colleague and warned Man A that CS Spray would be used against him if he failed to calm down. When he failed to do so, the officer discharged CS Spray into the police car towards Man A, who was still in the vehicle, from a distance of about four feet.
The officers then administered first aid to Man A and an ambulance was called. He was handcuffed to the rear, and after treatment by paramedics was placed in custody at Musgrave Street Police Station.
The incident was subsequently referred by the Harbour Police to the Police Ombudsman's Office for independent investigation. This was in accordance with an agreement that the Police Ombudsman would investigate each use of CS Spray by BHP officers within six months of its initial introduction by the service in March 2010.
Police Ombudsman investigators obtained CCTV footage covering the College Square East area, but found that the discharge of CS Spray had not been recorded. A remote controlled camera did not focus on the incident until after the spray had been discharged.
They also spoke to Man A, who stated that he had been drunk and had no recollection of the events. He accepted that his behaviour had been unacceptable, possibly due to the fact that he had been due for an injection to control his diabetes. He made no complaint about the police handling of the matter, and apologised for his behaviour.
Further enquiries established that the officer who used CS Spray was properly trained and authorised to use the weapon at the time.
Having considered the evidence, the Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, concluded that police were justified in using CS Spray against Man A, even though he was in the confined space of the rear of the police car at the time.
He said the use of the spray was justified given the immediate risk posed to officers by the unpredictable and violent nature of Man A's conduct.
However, Mr Hutchinson also noted the failure by one of the officers to engage child locks when Man A was placed in the rear of the police vehicle. That officers has since been disciplined for this failing.
Mr Hutchinson also criticised the failure of the other officer to apply handcuffs to Man A, despite his disruptive behaviour. Disciplinary action was also recommended against this officer, but he resigned from the service before it could be administered.