Police officer who punched and kicked teenage boy as he lay on the ground is jailed

11 September 2021, 10:01 | Updated: 11 September 2021, 10:06

An ex-police officer from Birmingham was jailed for six months yesterday after assaulting a 15-year-old boy while on duty.

PC Declan Jones, 30, was convicted of assaults against two members of the public on consecutive days during the first Covid lockdown.

The court heard how Jones pulled a cyclist, Michael Rose, 44, off his bicycle, punching him and pinning him against a patrol vehicle in Birmingham on 20 April 2020.

The next day he assaulted a 15-year-old boy, who he falsely accused of possessing drugs, by punching him and kicking him while he lay on the ground.

Passing sentence at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, District Judge Shamim Qureshi said that the boy "is never going to trust a police officer again."

The judge responded to body-cam footage of the incident: "He starts crying, he's a 15-year-old - you've just beaten him up twice and the way you talk to him, the sarcastic comments you made to him... It shows how you looked down on him.

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"He was simply a child and nothing more."

"I would be failing in my public duty to suspend your sentence," the Judge Qureshi added.

Both of Jones's victims were black, although an investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) did not find a case to answer over discrimination allegations.

The 30-year-old was sacked from West Midlands Police force for gross misconduct earlier this week.

He was sentenced to six months in prison at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

Judge Shamim Qureshi told the former PC: "What we have here in this case is not simply an isolated incident.

"It was a difficult situation for the whole country, the first lockdown this country has ever seen. The streets were pretty well deserted and so it’s an abuse of power in a scenario which was unique in that there were not many people around to witness what was going on."

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Both incidents were caught on CCTV.

Jones was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to both victims, and prosecution costs of £3,500.

He was also cleared of assaulting a third complainant who was punched in the face on 23 April, as the judge found this use of force to be "proportionate".

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West Midlands Police Chief Constable, Sir David Thompson, apologised to the victims and said: "The case concerns a significant national concern – namely excessive force by the police on black men."

He said Jones’s actions "undermined our efforts" to build trust with the public.

"This case will inevitably be seen in the context of deep concerns by the black community about the use of force by police," he said.