A Metropolitan Police officer who allegedly tasered a ten-year-old girl has been named as the force announced there will be a gross misconduct hearing in November.
PC Jonathan Broadhead was called to a report of a girl, “Child A”, allegedly threatening a woman with a hammer and garden shears at a flat in southwest London on January 21, 2021.
He is said to have shouted at the child to drop the items. When she did not, Broadhead is said to have discharged his Taser. The girl was not injured but taken to hospital as a precaution, the Met said. Details of the incident were revealed in March that year after a complaint was passed to the police watchdog.
According to the misconduct notice on the Met’s website, Broadhead allegedly used force against Child A which was “not necessary, reasonable and proportionate in all the circumstances”. The charge states that Broadhead is said to have twice deployed his Taser against the ten-year-old.
He could be sacked if his behaviour is found to amount to gross misconduct. A four-day hearing will begin on November 27.
The Met’s directorate of professional standards, which investigates complaints about officers’ conduct, reviewed the incident and said that “no misconduct was identified”.
However, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation and ruled that the officer must face misconduct proceedings. He is understood to have been placed on restricted duties.
Tasers were drawn in 34,276 incidents in England and Wales in the year to March 31, last year, according to Home Office data, down slightly from 34,416 recorded in the previous 12 months.
(Source: The Times)
