The Police Ombudsman's Office has said a police officer was right to use his CS Spray during an incident in Portrush.
The PSNI asked the Police Ombudsman to investigate all uses of the Spray during a five month period in 2004, including this incident which happened in the early hours of Sunday morning October 24 in Portrush.
It began when police officers who were mobile patrol came across two men having an argument outside an hotel.
The officers got out of their vehicle and managed to separate the men, taking each to one side and asking them to calm down.
However, one of the men threatened the police officer who was with him and then ran at him. The officer pushed the man to the ground with his hands but the man managed to get up and run at the officer again. The officer pushed him to the ground but again the man managed to get to his feet and run at the officer.
The police officer then warned that he would use the CS Spray. Undeterred the man ran at the officer for a third time. The officer used his spray and the man fell to the ground.
The man was then helped to his feet and given assistance to clear the effects of the Spray from his eyes. He was later taken to Coleraine Police Station where he was charged with disorderly behaviour and assaulting a police officer. The charges were subsequently withdrawn.
Police Ombudsman investigators spoke to the police officers who were present at the incident and examined the CS canister which had been used.
The investigators made enquiries within the hotel but were not able to find anyone who has saw what happened. They also spoke to the person who had been sprayed but he declined to give a statement. Two other people who had been with the man earlier in the night also declined to give statements.
The Police Ombudsman's Office concluded that the officer was said the right to have used the spray:
"The Constable was faced with a situation where immediate action was necessary to stop the threat the man posed to himself and to others. In those circumstances the officer had little option than to stop the threat with the most appropriate force available to him," it concluded.