A police officer who injured a woman’s arm as she was arrested in front of her son on false suspicion of fare evasion has had his conviction for common assault quashed.
PC Perry Lathwood bruised Jocelyn Agyemang’s arm as she was arrested on unfounded suspicion of evading a bus fare in Croydon in July last year. Video of the incident sparked widespread outrage online but also some support for the officer.
In May, Lathwood, of the roads and transport policing command, was found guilty at Westminster magistrates of common assault by beating. He was fined £1,500. But on Friday that conviction, which had resulted from an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, was overturned after an appeal to Southwark crown court.
The Metropolitan police acknowledged that the incident “divided opinions” and had significant impact on the black community in Croydon and beyond. But it called for the court’s decision to quash the conviction to be respected.
Lathwood and other officers were helping ticket inspectors on a bus at the time. After Agyemang and her son got off the bus at about 11am, a bus inspector asked her to show she had paid her fare.
At the time of the original conviction in May, the deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram ruled it was “not necessary” for Lathwood to “grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her”. He said: “There were not reasonable grounds to suggest arrest was necessary. The officer made an error of judgment and overreacted. I find you guilty of assault.”
But on Friday, Lathwood was cleared of assault on appeal.
The assistant commissioner Louisa Rolfe said: “I recognise that this incident has divided opinions. The impact it had, particularly on black communities in Croydon and further afield, was significant.
“However, PC Lathwood has now been cleared by the criminal courts and that decision must be respected.”
But she acknowledged Lathwood could have made mistakes. He remains on restricted duties pending the outcome of a misconduct process.
Rolfe said: “We accept this incident was not handled perfectly and there is valuable learning to be taken from it. However we believe that could have been done through police misconduct mechanisms, not the courts.
“Officers do not shy away from scrutiny and recognise the importance of independent oversight.
“We will continue to push for a system of police accountability that officers can have confidence in – one which properly recognises the very challenging role they perform and the requirement on them to make fast decisions under pressure.”
