Former Carlisle police officer's shock at 'aggressive 'Taser incident

The young man involved suffered a fractured skull after officers repeatedly tasered him on a country road in west Cumbria.

Video footage of the incident prompted the human rights group Amnesty to condemn the officers’ conduct, describing it as “overly aggressive” and their use of tasers as “chaotic” and “highly dangerous.”

The injured suspect, in his 20s and suffering a mental health crisis, was reported by a witness who had seen him holding a knife while in a state of mental health crisis – but the man discarded it when he saw the police.

He did this, said his lawyer because seeing the police made him feel safe.

Despite him being clearly unarmed, and in his stocking feet, the police officers immediately tried to physically overpower him, loudly yelling instructions and swearing as they repeatedly tasered him to the head and body.

As he tried to flee, the man was heard shouting: “Oh God” and “Help!” 

At some point during his attempt to get away from the officers, while being repeately tasered and yelled at, the suspect suffered a fractured skull - an injury so serious it resulted in a life-changing brain injury.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped a planned prosecution over an allegation that the man resisted arrest, saying it was not in the public interest. The Carlisle Crown Court judge involved described the video footage as “unedifying.”

A frame-by-frame analysis of the video footage by the News & Star showed that at no point during the encounter was the suspect holding a knife. The injured man spent a month in intensive care and needed two operations.

Cumbria Police has defended the officers, pointing out that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigated and ruled no action was necessary.

Despite that, the video elicited a strong response from former Carlisle police officer and ex-city councillor David Morton and also from Professor John Ashton, who served as a Director of Public Health in Cumbria for seven years until 2013.

Mr Morton (pictured below) expressed shock at what the video shows. “The police have a difficult enough job to do to keep the public on side,” he said. 

“The arrested man appeared to have no socks on, appeared unarmed and was relatively calm until the arrival of some male officers who, by their very demeanour, did not help the situation.   

“Their approach was aggressive and by their actions and language, they probably inflamed an already difficult incident. Members of the public behaving similarly would expect to be arrested.”

Professor Ashton, a former President of the Faculty of Public Health, said: “I’m totally shocked by what this video shows.

“The police officers were totally out of control and grossly overreacting to the situation. They showed a complete lack of professionalism and were using appalling language.

“It was totally unjustified.

“It also shows a lack of understanding of the needs of this terrified young man with psychiatric problems. He must have been terrified.”

Professor Ashton said he felt “deeply disappointed” with Cumbria Police. “In my experience, when I worked with them over six years, I would never have expected them to behave like this,” he said.

Responding to the IOPC ruling that no disciplinary action was needed, Professor Ashton said that outcome was “appalling”.

He said: “It shows how entrenched the problem is – the system of the police investigating the police. This shows how bad that problem is. The behaviour of the three officers involved in this was out of order.

“It was like watching a brawl in Carlisle’s Lowther Street on a Friday night, with these people setting upon an innocent victim. I spent years trying to get the Chief Constable to make it a priority to give front-line officers basic training in mental health issues so they can respond appropriately.

“This video shows that has fallen on deaf ears.”

Professor Ashton (pictured below) said it was clear the officers involved ignored College of Policing advice on dealing with vulnerable suspects.

That advice says officers should approach suspects “calmly”, with a “non-threatening stance”, giving them space, while being compassionate. “Those guidelines are useless if they are not selecting the right people,” he said.

“I thought the culture of Cumbria Police was better than this but what I’ve seen in this video has shaken my belief in this force.

"These officers do not belong in the police force. I have worked closely with Cumbria’s Chief Constable, and I have respect for her. She must act for the sake of her credibility.”

The graphic video, available above, shows: 

* The officers immediately physically engaging with the suspect, yelling loudly at him and repeatedly swearing as they shout multiple instructions to the man to lie down or put his hands behind his back.

* The suspect repeatedly holding out his empty hands and saying that he had done nothing wrong.

* The officers tasering the man multiple times, including to the neck and body – and  tasering him as he lies on the ground moaning in pain and as he attempts to flee, at one point shouting 'Help'.

* Ten seconds with the man sprawled on the ground, writhing and moaning in pain, and saying "Oh God" while being tasered three times in quick succession. 

* Images of the man appearing to have fits and bleeding heavily from a head wound while groaning and struggling to breathe as he lies semi-conscious and seriously injured on the ground after being handcuffed.

The officers immediately escalated the situation to a "wholly unnecessary physical confrontation," said the injured man's lawyer Daniel Menell.

“The video shows that he demonstrated no aggressive body language, and no verbal aggression. This man was cowering in fear.”

Read More: Amnesty condemns 'aggressive' taser use on vulnerable Cumbrian man and 'We've been through hell' - gran of west Cumbrian taser injury man

Commenting last month, Cumbria Constabulary's Chief Superintendent Mick Bird told the News & Star: “Due to the potential risk and information available, including that the individual was seen carrying a knife, an officer discharged their taser.

"The individual became violent, assaulting an officer by punching him in the face as a struggle ensued.

“The officer was also bitten repeatedly by the dog. The level of violence and threat resulted in our officer discharging a taser on further occasions to detain the individual. Once the individual was detained, officers provided first-aid while awaiting medical assistance to arrive.

Officers also recovered a knife from the scene.

"The Constabulary made a mandatory referral on the same day to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) for independent review of this incident.

"Their investigation of the evidence found, in light of the perceived threat and the intelligence that an individual was in possession of a knife, the response was reasonable in the circumstances.

"Their investigation found no action to be taken against the officer or the organisation, and no learning identified.

"Following receipt of a complaint in June 2022, the Constabulary once again referred itself to the IOPC to ensure that investigators were aware of all available information. Following an assessment, lasting over six months, the IOPC confirmed that the outcome of their initial investigation remained the same. 

"We respect the outcome of this independent investigation and its findings."

The images below - a series 'stills' taken from the police video of the suspect's arrest and detention - shows clearly that he did not have a knife at any point during his interaction with the officers.