Police knife assault victim wins apology after wrongful arrest
21/04/2010
A police constable has apologised to an arthritis sufferer who had a knife held to his throat by police officers when he was subject to wrongful arrested at his home.
Anthony Colcomb, 57, from Chatham in Kent, was arrested on suspicion of robbery by two officers, both of whom were subsequently convicted of assault over the incident.
After arriving at Mr Colcomb’s home in August 2008, Sgt Oliver Tingley and PC Luke Barlow dragged him into his kitchen, threatened him by holding a knife against his throat and sat on him while shouting in his face, after arriving at his home in August 2008.
Mr Colcomb was taken to Medway police station, where he was detained for 3½ hours, before being released without charge. Both officers were later charged with assault and found guilty at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court in April 2009. Sgt Tingley was jailed for 90 days and PC Barlow ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.
A police investigation into the matter found the police officers who attended Mr Colcomb's home did not follow the correct procedures when arresting or cautioning him and were therefore not acting in the lawful execution of their duty at his home at any time.
Mr Colcomb has now received a full apology from Kent's Chief Constable, acknowledging that he had been subject to unlawful arrest and offering a personal apology. It went on to say that there are “clearly important lessons to be learned by the Organisation arising from this matter”.
In addition, specialist police claims solicitors from Irwin Mitchell successfully secured a total of £14,000 in out-of-court compensation settlement for Mr Colcomb following the assault and wrongful arrest.
Mr Colcomb said: "It was absolutely terrifying. One officer threw me onto my sofa and sat on me while he shouted in my face. I couldn't move at all.
"Then when he had finished the other one dragged me into my kitchen and pulled a knife out. I was scared stiff, thinking what's he going to do with this knife?"
He added: "I am still amazed and disgusted by what happened and hope that I can now get on with my life. I sincerely hope the police do learn from this so that no other innocent people have to go through the same ordeal I have."
Iftikhar Manzoor, Mr Colcomb's legal representative at Irwin Mitchell, said: "There is a strict limit on how much force Police officers are allowed to use and in this case the officers in question went far in excess of any reasonable force.
"The police are there to enforce the law and protect the British public from harm, and Kent police have some very important lessons to learn from this case to ensure something like this can never happen again. It’s totally unacceptable to have officers going round threatening people and taking the law into their own hands."
If you have been subject to wrongful arrest or feel you have been mistreated by the police, read our claims against the police section.
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