'You're a clever little internet freak' The moment a…

'You're a clever little internet freak' The moment a 16-year-old boy records a police inspector assaulting him

This is the moment a police inspector attacked a vulnerable 16-year-old boy who had been filming outside Merthyr Tydfil police station.

Inspector Dean Gittoes was found guilty of assault after a trial at Cwmbran Magistrates' Court. He had denied attacking a member of the "auditing" community, which records videos of public buildings such as police stations and uploads them to YouTube.

Following the 49-year-old's conviction on Wednesday, the Crown Prosecution Service released the boy's video and the CCTV footage of the assault from the afternoon of August 20 last year. It shows the boy walking to the side of the police station and being confronted by Gittoes, who is behind a fence and wearing a Swansea City t-shirt and shorts.

Gittoes asks what the boy is doing, to which he says: "Filming." The boy is asked why and he replies: "Because I'm allowed." The inspector persists: "I know you're allowed but I'm asking you why."

The teenager then asks if Gittoes is an inspector but he replies: "Never mind who I am. I'm asking you who you are. What's going on?"

The boy repeats that he is filming. Gittoes tells him: "I know but we've had a few people filming here and we get a bit tired of it."

Inspector Dean Gittoes unlawfully arrests vulnerable child outside Merthyr Tydfil police station (CPS)

The officer demands the boy's name, but he is asked why he needs to know. Gittoes then marches through the turnstile and says: "Because I just asked you. I suspect you of being a terrorist... You're being arrested for terrorism."

Cries of pain can be heard as Gittoes assaults the boy and tells him: "You're a clever little internet freak who's about to learn the hard way."

District Judge Sophie Toms found that Gittoes had no reasonable grounds to arrest the boy under the Terrorism Act. She told him: "You gave no indication that you were a police officer and I agree with [the boy] that he didn't have to give his name at that stage. You marched towards him and you were clearly agitated. You took no more than 30 seconds to engage and ask questions, before you laid hands to arrest him. It was a snapshot decision... You were unable to control yourself or your emotions, and there was only a fleeting mention of an arrest for terrorism, with no caution given.

"You used significant and in my view unnecessary force to control him and cause pain and discomfort when he had offered no resistance. You just wanted to teach him a lesson. You told him, 'You're a clever little internet freak who's about to learn the hard way.' And he did."

Inspector Dean Gittoes outside court (PA)

The judge added: "You grabbed his arm, used force against him, marching him into the station, twisting his wrist, causing him to fall to the floor, pushing him against the wall, grabbing the back of his hoodie, preventing him breathing properly... He was crying out in pain throughout the incident. This was a continued, unlawful assault against a vulnerable 16-year-old boy."

Gittoes, of Oak Tree Rise, is due to be sentenced on October 27. His barrister Christopher Rees said: "The consequences in terms of his career are obvious. That will be the biggest punishment for him."

Following the trial, the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog said it would be "liaising" with South Wales Police on "potential disciplinary proceedings". And Chief Superintendent Mark Lenihan, from the force's professional standards department, said: “Now that the criminal trial has concluded the force can deal with misconduct matters. The incident was voluntarily referred by South Wales Police to the Independent Office for Police Conduct to ensure it received independent oversight.”

You can read the full court report of the judge's verdict here. And you can find more stories from courts in Wales here.

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