Met officer defends Tasering 10-year-old girl

A Met officer has defended Tasering a 10-year-old girl after she threatened her mother with garden shears.

PC Jonathan Broadhead fired his Taser at the girl twice at her home in Brixton in south London on 21 January 2021.

He is accused of using force "which was not necessary, reasonable and proportionate" against the girl.

Giving evidence at a misconduct hearing on Tuesday, the police officer said he felt using the Taser was "necessary".

PC Broadhead and a colleague were dispatched to the girl’s home after her mother reported that her daughter had threatened her with garden shears and a hammer.

The mother opened the front door to PC Broadhead when he arrived, after which the girl picked up the shears from the ground, the hearing heard.

Body-worn camera footage of both PC Broadhead and his colleague who attended the incident was played to the misconduct hearing panel.

Referring to the gardens shears, the officer described how he shouted at the girl to “put it down now”.

But, he said, he made the decision to fire the Taser within 10 seconds after shouting a further warning to her as she ran up some stairs.

“I was worried what her intentions were with the shears," he said.

"She had seen the officers and picked the shears up. I was worried what she’d do with them.”

He said he felt "panicked", was "unsure who was in the house" and where she was going with them.

Miss A, the girl’s mother, who gave evidence on Monday, claimed her daughter had hit her with the hammer before police arrived, but said she was a safe distance away from her when officers got there, and did not want her to be shot with a Taser.

Olivia Checa-Dover, the barrister presenting the case for the Independent Office for Police Conduct, said the incident breached professional standards.

She argued PC Broadhead failed to factor in the girl's age and by not considering that, it contributed to an "unacceptable outcome".

But PC Broadhead said "her age was considered" and that in his "urgent judgement", he believed Tasering "was necessary to control the perceived threat".

The hearing continues.

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