South Yorkshire Police sack officer for kicking prisoner

PC Richard Wilby-Newton lost his job after being found guilty of gross misconduct following a hearing about his behaviour earlier this month.

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South Yorkshire Police said a misconduct hearing was held following a complaint from a member of the public that he kicked a detainee who was handcuffed and on the ground.

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In a statement released by the force, it has emerged that the officer initially denied using force on the prisoner.

But after CCTV footage was enhanced, the officer then admitted that he had been responsible.

During the misconduct hearing he said he could no longer remember the incident and was unable to offer an explanation for what happened.

The force said: “The panel considered two allegations against PC Wilby-Newton. Firstly, an allegation of an inappropriate use of force during the arrest of an individual and secondly, an allegation of a lack of honesty and integrity in respect of his answers to questions in an initial interview during the investigation into his use of force.

“The officer was alleged to have kicked a detainee while the detainee was handcuffed and on the ground.

“In an initial interview, the officer denied that he was the officer responsible for using force on the detainee. After further investigations, in a subsequent interview he accepted that he was the officer who had used the force on the detainee but was unable to remember the event.

“He did not accept that the use of force was inappropriate.”

The statement continued: “The panel, chaired by a legally qualified chair, decided that the officer had used inappropriate force against the detainee and that his account in the initial interview was not an honest account.

“They found that both allegations were proved and the conduct amounted to gross misconduct. The officer was dismissed without notice.”