Metropolitan Police Officer Convicted of Assaulting Teenager

A female Metropolitan Police officer has been convicted of assault after striking a 16-year-old boy, who has mental health difficulties, “multiple times in the face with an open palm” while he was being transported to a hospital. PC Sevda Gonen, 33, received the guilty verdict from Judge Briony Clarke at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday. Both PC Gonen and fellow Met Police constable, Stuart Price, 35, were also found guilty of conducting an unlawful search, which was deemed to be assault by beating. The incident occurred in November of the previous year, following a police call regarding reports of the teenager behaving aggressively at his residence. It was alleged that the boy had acted violently towards a mental health professional attempting to assess him. The court viewed camera footage from inside the police vehicle en route to the boy’s Cambridgeshire home, which captured the two officers making disparaging comments about the teenager. PC Gonen was heard saying of the boy: “I’ve had enough of him”. On Thursday, PC Gonen offered an apology for these remarks, explaining to the court that the conversation took place “in the heat of the moment”. PC Price had volunteered to transport the boy to the hospital in a police vehicle after the boy’s mother expressed concerns for her son’s well-being to the officers. The court heard that the boy subsequently entered the police vehicle but kept his foot extended, preventing the rear door from closing. Footage from within the police vehicle depicted the boy lighting a cigarette and beginning to smoke. According to court testimony, after a struggle, the boy was handcuffed but not formally arrested, and was then searched because officers were concerned he might have items in his pockets. PC Price documented in a subsequent use of force form that the boy had “actively offered resistance to his colleague’s efforts to take his cigarette”, while PC Gonen noted in her form that the boy displayed “aggressive resistance”. PC Gonen stated that the boy’s smoking caused her to “panic” due to “huge safety risks,” further explaining that she suffers from asthma and considered smoking in the vehicle to be “criminal damage”. Bodycam footage presented in court captured PC Price informing PC Gonen: “Just to let you know he’s been spitting in my face.” The officers then decided to section the boy, and PC Gonen informed the teenager that he was being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Gonen testified that she was concerned about him spitting, leading her to place a coat collar near his mouth, as heard by the court. The boy’s eyes then lowered, and he became less responsive, prompting PC Price to say: “You alright, mate? We’re just trying to help you mate.” PC Price then communicated to PC Gonen: “Yeah, he’s hot to touch.” Further footage shown to the court revealed PC Gonen appearing to slap the boy’s face multiple times – 16 times according to the judge’s count – while simultaneously holding him by the hair, which caused his eyes to flicker. PC Gonen defended her actions by asserting to the court that she had no intention of harming him and that her actions were for the boy’s safety. She stated: “Any time there was a concern for his life, I decided the best course of action was to gently slap him on his cheeks.” She added: “At that moment in time I thought I was saving somebody’s life. I thought I was preventing a medical emergency from occurring.” PC Price also informed the court that the search was conducted to “prevent further offences taking place”. The prosecution contended that the search was unlawful because the boy had not been arrested, and the officers lacked the authority to search him under either Section 32 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act or Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. The judge declared herself satisfied that the search was unlawful, that the officers were not performing a search to prevent crime, and that they conducted the search “giving no thoughts to what power they had or even if they had any powers”. She further expressed her clear view that PC Gonen believed the boy was “faking it,” and subsequently “sought to explain her behaviour by reference to a known medical condition suggested to her at the time by another colleague”. The Metropolitan Police referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police conduct watchdog, in December of last year, and the case file was forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in April. Mel Palmer, IOPC regional director, commented: “These officers made no effort to explain their actions and in fact, both gave the IOPC different accounts as to what powers they were performing the search under. Today a judge has found that the search of the child was unlawful.” He proceeded to condemn PC Gonen’s actions, stating that “slapping the child to check he was conscious is not an approved method and was found to be a further unlawful use of force”. The IOPC indicated that it is currently in discussions with the Metropolitan Police regarding disciplinary proceedings. Gonen and Price are scheduled for sentencing on 24 January.