Met officer fined for assaulting woman in wrongful arrest over bus fare | UK News
A Metropolitan Police officer was fined £1,500 after manhandling and wrongly arresting a woman for not paying her bus fare.
PC Perry Lathwood, 50, was convicted of assault by beating after he grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm causing bruising in Croydon, south London.
Footage of the incident at around 11am on July 21 last year was shared widely on social media.
It showed Ms Agyemang being held back by Lathwood, from the Met’s Road Traffic Policing Command, as her seven-year-old son sobs hysterically.
In a victim personal statement read out at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Ms Agyemang said the incident was ‘deeply humiliating and embarrassing’ and that it had had a ‘devastating effect’ on her and her son.
She described Lathwood as having a ‘look of contempt in his eyes’ that day and said he called her a ‘daft cow’.
The police officer was helping ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon at the time, while Ms Agyemang was getting off the bus with her son.
An inspector asked if she had paid her fare, so she handed her Oyster card to them. It was then Lathwood got involved.
Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, said: ‘He (Lathwood) lays a hand on her, she moves away from him but he then grabs her arm again and arrests her for fare evasion.’
‘In fact she had paid her fare, subsequently the card was examined – she had made payment for that journey but she was arrested.
‘Her child was becoming distressed because his mother is becoming upset.
‘PC Lathwood continues to hold her and repeatedly makes demand of her that she should tap her card, that she should present her card she’s holding to the ticket inspector.
‘It is confirmed that she had in fact paid for her travel, as a result of which PC Lathwood de-arrested her, removed the handcuffs he’d placed on her and effectively she was allowed to go on her way with her son.’
Lathwood, of Normans Bay, East Sussex, denied assault by beating and plans to appeal his conviction.
He claimed he was trying to stop the mother and child being run over.
‘She’s walking towards the road, she had to be contained for her safety, her kids’ safety and our safety,’ Lathwood said.
‘If I hadn’t moved her back she would have been splattered.’
Giving evidence Miss Agyemang said the officer’s actions made her feel ‘very, very violated’.
‘I just remember, like, this officer just grabbing me and my arm from nowhere.
‘It was a very, very strong hold – he literally was hurting my arm and I believe I expressed that to him as well.
‘I just wanted him to get off me because he’s quite strong and it just made me feel very anxious that he was holding onto me and I didn’t know what I had done wrong, especially as I had my Oyster card in my hand.’
She said Lathwood had called her a ‘daft cow’ while releasing her from his grip.
‘I think he tried to accuse me of running into the road and he called me a daft cow.’
District Judge Tan Ikram had earlier said Lathwood’s account of what happened ‘lacked credibility’.
He told the officer: ‘I recognise the challenges in policing and that officers must make real time decisions on the street.
‘Sometimes they get it wrong, in my judgement, on this occasion, the officer got it wrong. It is not through bad faith.
‘Nonetheless, this has had an impact on the victim and her seven year old son who watched on.
‘She has described the impact on her own mental health and the distress suffered to her seven year old son.’
Judge Ikram said he does not believe Lathwood’s actions were an abuse of power.
‘This was a mistake by a police officer in the heat of the moment.’
He continued: ‘In terms of mitigating features, the defendant has no previous convictions or cautions, indeed I have heard of his previous good character read out at trial.
‘I bear in mind that when I am dealing with a police officer, a sentencing has a profound impact.
‘I am satisfied that the matter can be dealt with by way of a fine.’
As well as the £1500 fine, Lathwood was ordered to pay £200 in compensation and a further £650 in costs, as well as a £600 victim surcharge.
In total, he must pay £2,950 within 56 days.