A Metropolitan Police officer has been convicted of assaulting a serial robber by pepper-spraying him while he was clinging to a drainpipe on a 15-storey building.
PC Luke Wenham, 31, used “completely disproportionate” force against Carl Cumberbatch during an arrest in Elephant and Castle, south London on August 17 last year.
Fugitive Cumberbatch scaled the side of the Albert Barnes House on New Kent Road in an attempt to evade arrest for robbery.
Wenham, attached to the Central South Basic Command Unit, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he was found guilty following a one-day trial of two counts of common assault.
He is due to be sentenced on July 26 and will face a misconduct hearing.
Entry was forced to Cumberbatch’s flat, but he climbed out of a window and began to scale down a drainpipe which ran the length of the building.
As he did so, Wenham leant out of an open window and discharged PAVA spray at the suspect – who continued to climb down.
Together with other officers, Wenham located the man on the balcony of another flat.
When Cumberbatch continued attempts to escape, Wenham, who lives in Dartford, deployed PAVA on him.
Cumberbatch was brought to safety, arrested and later convicted of 11 counts of robbery, two of criminal damage and two counts of racially aggravated public order.
Scotland Yard policy dictates that any time an officer uses PAVA spray the circumstances will be subject to review, which in this case was carried out by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Wenham has been on restricted duties since the investigation started.
Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, in charge of policing Southwark and Lambeth, said: “Officers know that their actions will be held to account and where any use of force is deployed, must always consider whether it was necessary and proportionate to the circumstances.
“It is clear in this case that not only was PC Wenham’s response completely disproportionate to the situation he faced but also, by doing what he did, he put a member of public at risk of harm.
“PC Wenham has let down not only himself but many hardworking police colleagues who strive to improve trust and confidence with our communities.
“I am pleased that this matter was put before a jury to make a decision following a careful consideration of all the facts.”
IOPC director Steve Noonan said: “At the time he was sprayed, the man was not posing an immediate risk to the officers or anyone else.
“It is clear that in spraying the man twice at considerable heights, PC Wenham exposed him to the genuine risk he may have lost his grip on the pipe and fallen, which would have likely had fatal consequences.”
