UK: Police beating raises claims of brutality
01 January 2007
In July 2006 CCTV cameras filmed a police officer punching a teenage girl five times outside a Sheffield nightclub while colleagues held her down. The victim, Toni Cramer (19), said that she had suffered injuries to her neck, shoulders and legs during the attack which only ended when she was dragged away by the policemen. The film of the assault was released in early March after a Sheffield Race Relations manager passed the film to the
The Guardian and the BBC's
Newsnight programme. On the basis of its contents Ms Cramer's family have accused PC Anthony Mulhall of using excessive force. Mulhall has admitted hitting the girl as hard as he could, but insists that he was merely attempting to restrain the teenager. After the airing of the footage he was removed from all frontline duties. An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCC) has begun and Ms Cromar says that she intends to sue the police.
The incident caught by CCTV cameras is shocking. Ms Cromar, who by her own admission had been drinking at a nightclub and was aggressive after being ejected by bar staff, vandalised a security guard's car. She later pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage and was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay compensation to the owner. Following the incident the police were called. The security cameras show Ms Cramer and PC Mulhall falling down a fire escape with the police officer landing on top of the teenager. The policeman is joined by two other officers and a security guard who hold Ms Cramer down as PC Mulhall tries to handcuff her; as he does this he punches her, with great force, on five separate occasions. As Mulhall is still on top of the girl it is impossible to see where his punches land, although she suffered bruising to her neck and her back. The footage ends with Ms Cramer being dragged away, with her trousers around her knees, to a waiting police vehicle. The young woman, who suffers from epilepsy, says that she was having a fit at the time and recalled nothing of the events until she saw the CCTV footage. When she had viewed it she said that she could not believe that the police would do something like that.
Since the release of the CCTV footage PC Mulhall has admitted hitting the slightly built teenager, but only in self-defence. He told
Newsnight: “She began to kick, spit and made attempts to bite me. She tried to grab handfuls of my genitals and knee and kick me in the same place." He added that he had hit her in the arm as "hard as I was physically able" when arresting her. The arrest was defended fellow South Yorkshire police officers, with Chief Constable, Meredydd Hughes, arguing that the footage gave a distorted view of the events. He added that the 9-stone teenager was only hit by blows directed to her arm in order to restrain her. It should be recalled that force, by a police officer or a member of the public, may be used: i. in self-defence; ii. in defence of another or property; iii. in the prevention of crime, or iv. in the process of a lawful arrest. The Crown Prosecution Service maintains that you can only use "such force as is reasonable in the circumstances". Tony Murphy, at solicitors Bindman & Partners, told the BBC that: "Repeatedly punching a member of the public, not least a woman, in an unexceptional arrest situation is not an approved use of force. It should properly be denounced as inhuman and degrading treatment in a democracy."
The CCTV footage can be viewed at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/flvplayer.swf?file=http://download.theguardian.tv/video/2007/SheffieldCCTV.flv&autostart=true&fs=true