A long-serving police officer has been found guilty of misconduct after slapping a violent suspect and calling him a “good boy”.

At a hearing at Kent Police headquarters this week, a panel was told PC William Russell used “excessive” force against a detainee taken to hospital last February.

The married father-of-three, who has served as a police officer for 11 years, placed the man in a spit hood and hit him three times in the face during the incident, causing the suspect to file an official complaint against him.

This week, a panel comprising a legally qualified chair, a lay member of the public and a senior police officer worked to establish whether PC Russell’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, and could justify his dismissal from the force. The hearing was held by Kent Police, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

On the night of February 12 last year, the officer was on duty in Margate when a man was arrested for criminal damage and brought into custody.

While observing him from a window to his cell, PC Russell saw the man retrieve an item “from his buttocks area” and swallow it.

The man was taken to the QEQM hospital in Margate, escorted by several people, including PC Russell.

While being transferred, he assaulted an officer and spat at another. Earlier in the evening, he had also been violent towards a shopkeeper, while he later threatened to kick a hospital nurse.

PC Russell said: “He was someone I deemed to be very high risk, in terms of the risk he posed.

“He was being very aggressive. He’s already on a suspended sentence. He’s already assaulted more than one police officer.

“I believed he was going back to prison and thought he was going to to try to take down as many people en-route as possible.”

At about 12.25am, bodyworn camera footage showed PC Russell moving quickly towards the man, who was handcuffed and sitting on a sofa in a lounge by the A&E department.

"I recognise it could be deemed as disrespectful, but it was not my intention..."

“I saw he shuffled forward to the edge of the chair,” explained PC Russell. “I thought he was going to spit at PC Olsen.”

PC Russell restrained the man by turning his face, before placing him in a spit hood.

The officer then gave him two slaps to the chin and called him a “good boy”.

PC Russell admitted his behaviour amounted to misconduct. He branded his choice of wording “certainly disrespectful”, adding: “I am apologetic for that.”

During cross-examination, counsel for the appropriate authority David Messling said: “You are completely in power over the detainee. You’re above him, he’s in handcuffs, he’s in the hood, he’s on the sofa, there are multiple officers.

“In that context, is it something that someone could see as you effectively demonstrating power over him?”

But PC Russell denied intending any “display of domination”.

“In hindsight I recognise it could be deemed to be disrespectful, but it was not my intention to use it in that manner,” he said.

Following this, the detained man was seen to move his head, at which PC Russell hits him in the face, this time with greater force.

PC Russell claimed the man had “lightly” headbutted him in the nose, causing him to act in self-defence.

“You get physically hit to the nose and you immediately react to protect yourself,” he said. “I haven’t then gone about striking him. I’ve reacted to being headbutted and I’ve gone on to contain the situation.”

On Tuesday, the IOPC found that PC Russell had not breached the standards of professional behaviour by applying the spit hood, or by slapping the man’s face after he attempted to headbutt him.

PC Russell was, however, found guilty of a breach regarding the two initial slaps and his comment of “good boy”.

The panel, led by legally qualified chair Chiew Yin Jones, concluded that PC Russell’s actions amounted to misconduct but did not reach the threshold for gross misconduct, and ruled that PC Russell should be issued with a written warning.

The officer had been charged with assault by beating in connection with the incident but was acquitted by Brighton magistrates at a hearing in December.

Following the misconduct hearing, IOPC regional director for London and the south east, Sarah Green, said: “While PC Russell was acquitted at the criminal trial, Kent Police agreed the officer should face a gross misconduct hearing, and their panel has come to its decision.

“The community entrusts police to use the powers they have responsibly and appropriately. Most officers do so, but when this doesn’t occur, it’s important there is independent oversight and accountability, and any lessons to be learnt are identified.”

Superintendent John Phillips added: "The panel carefully considered the significant mitigating circumstances in this case where the detainee’s behaviour was so aggressive he was later convicted of three counts of assault on an emergency worker, two counts of common assault, theft and criminal damage.

"The panel regarded the breaches of standards as a spontaneous lapse of judgement in the context of prolonged dealings with a difficult detainee and as a result he was issued with a written warning."

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