video evidence

A student who was making a video of life in his street caught a police officer on camera punching and kicking his next door neighbour. Police officers had called at a house in Wakefield to question a man in connection with reports of damage to cars.

The suspect, who had been drinking, came out of his house to explain to police that he had done nothing wrong. There then seems to have been an argument resulting in the man being punched and kicked by the officer before being arrested and taken to a police station.

After a night in a police cell, the suspect was released. He was initially charged with being drunk and disorderly, but this was dropped a few days later.

The suspect made a complaint against the police using the video footage as evidence. The police officer was suspended from duty while an investigation into the incident took place. After a disciplinary hearing he was dismissed from the force and convicted of common assault for which he was sentenced to 200 hours community service. The man who was kicked and assaulted received £7,500 in compensation for his injuries.