A Metropolitan Police officer convicted of assaulting a woman as she was wrongly accused of bus fare evasion is a “huge setback” for the force, the assistant commissioner has said.
PC Perry Lathwood, 50, was on duty and helping ticket inspectors in Croydon when Jocelyn Agyemang and her son got off a bus.
She told a court how she had been wrongly accused of fare evasion, and then “manhandled” by the officer who placed her in handcuffs.
At Westminster magistrates court on Friday, Lathwood was found guilty of assault in the incident on July 21 last year in Whitehorse Road, Croydon.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the verdict “is a huge setback to our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners”.
He added that the force “will learn lessons from this” and “we apologise to the woman and the wider community who were deeply affected”.
Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram said it was “not necessary to grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her.
“There were not reasonable grounds to suggest arrest was necessary.”
He added: “The officer made an error of judgment and overreacted.”
Mrs Agyemang, who was dropping her son off at her mother’s house before heading to an appointment in Marylebone, suffered a bruised arm in the incident.
She was asked to show that she had paid her fare by a bus inspector, did not hand over a ticket and simply walked off, the court heard.
“It is at this moment that PC Lathwood becomes involved”, said prosecutor Paul Jarvis.
He said Lathwood put a hand on her, but she moved away, so he then grabbed her arm and arrested her for fare evasion.
In footage of the incident shot by bystanders, Ms Agyemang can be heard asking the officer: “Can you get off me, please? Can you get off my arm?
“You don’t understand, I have done nothing wrong.”
Lathwood, who at one point called her a “daft cow”, continued to hold her, demanding she tap her card. He also handcuffed her.
Another officer took her Oyster card from her hand and went away with it to see if she had paid.
It was confirmed that Ms Agyemang had paid her fare and she was de-arrested at the scene.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/m ... 58540.html