Lewisham PC’s ‘taser threat’ to 16-year-old leads to final warning from misconduct panel

A Lewisham PC has been given a final written warning after his actions during a stop and search were found not to be necessary, reasonable or proportionate.

A misconduct hearing, which concluded on Friday, found that PC Connor Jones, based in Lewisham, was found to have breached the standard of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy and use of force at the level of gross misconduct.

The Met has apologised to the family of a 16-year-old boy at the centre of the incident.

On September 4, 2020, police received a report of a young black male with a samurai knife chasing two boys with weapons near Armitage Road, Greenwich.

Officers, including specialist firearms officers, were deployed.

PC Jones, alongside another officer, stopped a group of five teenagers in the area, who they believed matched the description provided in the initial call.

One of the boys was stopped and searched while handcuffed and kneeling in the road. As part of this search, PC Jones held a Taser against his neck and can be heard on video telling him he will deploy it if he moves.

No weapons were found and the group were allowed to leave.

Following the incident, a complaint was received and investigated by the local Met Professional Standards Unit. The investigation concluded in December 2020 with the complaint not upheld and no misconduct identified for PC Jones.

However, the complainant appealed the decision to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which launched an independent investigation on June 4, 2021. They directed a gross misconduct hearing should be held for PC Jones.

The panel did not find that PC Jones’ actions were influenced by the boy’s ethnicity and concluded there was no breach of the standard of professional behaviour relating to equality and diversity.

The misconduct hearing panel found that PC Jones’ actions – in which he pressed his Taser against the boy’s neck and said he would deploy it if he moved – were unreasonable.

He also failed to comply with policies in regard to detailing the incident and retention of the body worn video (BWV), after not completing a use of force form and not wearing the BWV due to technical difficulties with it.

PC Jones was given a final written warning, which will last for three years.

Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, in charge of policing for South East Basic Command Unit, said: “We acknowledge that this was a distressing incident for the boy involved and recognise the ongoing impact it has had on both him and his family. We have previously apologised for the trauma caused and we repeat this again today.

“It is right that any use of force and stop and search are scrutinised and in this case, the panel found that PC Jones’ actions were not proportionate or necessary.

“Stop and search is one of the tactics we use to tackle knife crime and we know that when used in a focused and appropriate way, it helps us keep Londoners safe.

“However we also recognise that when done incorrectly, we risk damaging members of the public’s trust. This is why we continue to monitor our stop and search activity, and are working with our communities to create an agreement on how we conduct stop and search in the future.”

Pictured top: Lewisham Police Station (Picture: Google Street View)