Two police officers have been found guilty of assault and carrying out an unlawful search on a 16-year-old boy with mental health difficulties who they were transporting to hospital in November 2023. Sevda Gonen and Stuart Price were convicted at Westminster Magistrates Court of assaulting the teenager and charged with carrying out an unlawful search. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is in discussions with the Metropolitan Police over disciplinary proceedings regarding the two officers. The officers are scheduled to be sentenced on 24 January.
The officers had initially been called after the boy was reported to have been aggressively behaving and violent towards a mental health worker who was attempting to perform an assessment at his home address. Prosecutor Lyndon Harris stated that Gonen had formed the impression that the boy was wasting their time by faking some form of mental illness. Price had offered to drive the boy to a hospital in a police vehicle after his mother told officers she was concerned for his welfare. The boy climbed into the police vehicle, and according to Harris, he left his foot outside the vehicle, inhibiting the rear door from closing. Footage from inside the police car showed the boy lighting a cigarette and starting to smoke.
The prosecution argued Gonen slapped the teenager several times in the face, and the search was unlawful as the boy had not been arrested. Gonen denied the charge and claimed she slapped the boy as she was concerned for his life. However, Judge Briony Clarke stated that by her count, the boy had been slapped 16 times, and while it was clear that Gonen believed the boy was faking it, she thought she was preventing a medical emergency from occurring. Price could be heard on camera footage telling Gonen that the boy had been spitting on his face.
Mel Palmer, IOPC regional director, stated that the boy’s search was unlawful. The police officers made no effort to explain their actions. Both officers gave different accounts as to what powers they were performing the search under. In addition, Gonen’s actions in slapping the 16-year-old, who was experiencing mental health difficulties, to check he was conscious were found to be an unlawful use of force.
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