Sergeant who hit man on floor guilty of misconduct

A police custody sergeant lost his temper, pulled a handcuffed man to the floor and hit him in a police station, a disciplinary panel has found.

Sgt Rhodri Davies of South Wales Police used unnecessary, disproportionate and unreasonable force against Tariq Evans in October 2022.

Sgt Davies, a former boxer, also used a "dangerous restraint" on Mr Evans in a cell in Swansea police station, the panel found.

The hearing was told his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

Tariq Evans was handcuffed, arrested and taken to Swansea Central police station where Rhodri Davies was the duty custody sergeant on 24 October 2022.

The hearing was told Mr Evans was "highly aggressive" and "extremely violent" towards officers when he was arrested and had assaulted and spat at officers before being taken to the station.

However, CCTV footage played in the hearing showed Mr Evans was not physically aggressive before he was "taken down" by Sgt Davies.

On Thursday, a disciplinary panel found Sgt Davies was "reckless" when he took Mr Evans to the ground and did not have control of him when he "spun him around", narrowly missing the wall.

Christopher Mckay, panel chair, said "the takedown to the ground was particularly dangerous" because Mr Evans was handcuffed.

He said it was likely that Sgt Davies had "had enough" of Mr Evans' "abusive comments" and "lost patience with him".

The panel found Sgt Davies "had the strength to contain Mr Evans" and the takedown and subsequent "strikes" were unnecessary, disproportionate, unreasonable and unlawful.

Mr Mckay said Mr Evans "posed no significant threat to anyone" when Sgt Davies was on top of him and the strikes on him "were made in temper" and were not for any "policing purpose".

Sgt Davies also used "inappropriate" language in relation to Mr Evans, he said.

The allegation that Sgt Davies used an "unsafe technique" when he lifted Mr Evans off the floor by his handcuffs was "struck out" during the hearing, while the allegation he struck Mr Evans when he stood back up was not proved.

CCTV showed Tariq Evans was taken from the custody suite to a cell by a group of officers.

The panel found Sgt Davies used a "dangerous restraint" on Tariq Evans' neck in the cell which was "not acceptable or safe".

It also condemned "knee strikes" by Sgt Davies while Mr Evans was lying on the cell floor.

Mr Mckay said there was "insufficient time between the strikes to reassess the need for further strikes".

He also said the fact some officers witnessed the incident but were not prepared to criticise Sgt Davies was due to "a misguided sense of loyalty to him and possibly South Wales Police force".

Mr Mckay said Sgt Davies's action in the custody suite amounted to gross misconduct, but his actions in the cell amounted to misconduct.

He said the allegations, "when taken together", constituted gross misconduct.

Jonathan Walters, who represents the appropriate authority - which brought the case against Sgt Davies - said dismissing Sgt Davies from the force was "justified".

But the hearing was told alternative options would be a final warning or reduction in rank.

A decision on what will happen to Sgt Rhodri Davies will be taken at a later date.