PC acquitted of assaulting student in Hackney

25 November 2011

PC John Caulfield, a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer based in Hackney, has been acquitted of assault causing actual bodily harm following a nine day retrial at Southwark Crown Court. At a previous trial in June 2011, the jury failed to reach a verdict.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) conducted an independent investigation following an allegation from a member of the public that the officer had assaulted a 19 year old man prior to arresting him in north London on the evening of Thursday 27 August 2009.

A file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service in December 2009 who decided in March 2010 that there was sufficient evidence to charge PC Caulfield with the offence.

IPCC Commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said:

"This incident came to light because a member of the public thought that a police officer was using excessive force and contacted the IPCC to make a complaint. We carried out an independent investigation, which included tracking down the victim, who had returned to France, and identifying the officer, who we later interviewed under criminal caution. We provided our report to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided there was sufficient evidence to bring a criminal charge against the officer.  

"The evidence in this case has been brought before two  juries to determine whether or not a police officer committed a criminal offence while arresting this young man that evening. The jury has now decided this was not the case and we must, of course, respect that decision.”

The actions of two other officers who had some involvement that evening were also investigated as part of this case.

The IPCC decided that, in the case of a police constable who was on patrol with PC Caulfield that evening, there was a misconduct case to answer involving the credibility of her account of events leading up to the arrest. The IPCC awaits the MPS response to this finding.