Bec Oakes
A Met Police officer who tasered a 10-year-old girl within seconds of entering her home has cleared of charges of gross misconduct.
PC Jonathan Broadhead shot his taser twice at the child, referred to as Child A, after being called out to a residence in southwest London on 21 January, 2021.
The youngster's mum had called 999 after she'd threatened her with a hammer and some garden shears when her phone was confiscated.
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Now, at a disciplinary hearing that concluded yesterday (30 November), it has been found that PC Broadhead's actions were necessary and reasonable given the circumstances.
He told the disciplinary panel that the girl was sat at the kitchen table when he and his colleague arrived on the scene.
Upon seeing the police officers, she ‘almost instantly leaned down and grabbed the shears and got up.'
"I was worried what her intentions were with the shears, why, as soon as she’d seen us, she’d picked the shears up," he said during the hearing. "I was worried what she was going to do with them."
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Body-cam footage captures PC Broadhead telling the girl to 'put it down now' as he enters the room.
He claimed he pulled out the taser after Child A 'armed herself' and disputed the suggestion that she was running away from them, saying her movement was a ‘purposeful walk into the property away from us.'
He then tasered the girl twice, believing the first attempt had not worked.
"I felt that, as she reached the bend in the stairs, that was my last possible moment to take the activation of the taser – had she made the bend the taser would not have the option any more," he said.
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"Moving around the corner gives her a bigger height advantage – with me going towards the bottom of the stairs, she would have been directly above me.
"I was worried she could and would assault us."
Following the hearing, PC Broadhead was found not guilty of gross misconduct.
The panel’s chairwoman, Catherine Elliot, said: "Having considered the evidence in great detail… the panel has concluded that PC Broadhead’s use of taser on Child A was necessary, reasonable and proportionate in all the circumstances.
"The allegations are therefore not proved."
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Speaking afterwards, regional director of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Mel Palmer added: "We did find the officers provided adequate aftercare to the child by calling paramedics to remove the taser barbs, performing a partial search and keeping her in handcuffs.
"This meant that the barbs were not moved, which may have caused her further pain."