Police officer suspended from force after punching detained handcuffed man in face

PC Jacob Swallow, 25, an officer based in Bradford district, was found guilty at trial of one charge of common assault.

The charge related to an incident on June 15, 2022, in Keighley.

Police were called to a report of a disturbance and a 17-year-old man was handcuffed and placed in the rear cage of a police van.

After the cage doors were closed, the man started banging his head against the cage door.

Two officers opened the van door to restrain him, and he bit one of the officers.

After the cage doors were closed again, the man continued banging his head.

At this point, PC Swallow opened the van door and punched the man once to the face, causing his head to recoil backwards and bang against the back of the cage, resulting in a bleeding nose.

PC Swallow was sentenced at York Magistrates Court on Wednesday to 22 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months.

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, pay £200 in compensation and £940 in costs.

The suspended sentence means that if he fails to comply with the requirements of his sentence or is convicted of another offence during the period of his suspended sentence then he is likely to serve the original custodial term as well as the sentence he gets for any new offence.

Detective Chief Superintendent Nicola Bryar, Head of West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “The law recognises that there are situations where police officers may be required to use force. It is vital though that it is only used when reasonable, necessary and proportionate.

“In this incident, the victim was handcuffed and secured in a police vehicle. While the male was being aggressive both to himself and officers, this was no justification for punching him in the circumstances and the court has recognised the officer’s actions to be unlawful.

“This incident was captured on officer’s body worn video. This is there to protect both our officers and staff and the public. On this occasion it was a key piece of evidence used to convict PC Swallow.

"The Force has mandated that all officers and staff on frontline duties will activate body worn video when engaging their policing powers. The public should have confidence that this footage provides an ‘independent witness’ to interactions between the police and members of the public and that it is reviewed and acted on, as in this case.

“PC Swallow has been suspended from duty and now that this court case has concluded, we will move forward with misconduct proceedings.”