Gross Misconduct

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By James W Kelly & PA MediaBBC News

A 10-year-old girl who threatened her mother with garden Shears was Tasered twice by a Met Police Officer , a misconduct hearing was told.

PC Jonathan Broadhead fired his Taser at The Girl twice within " approximately eight seconds" of entering her home in south-west London on 21 January 2021.

He is accused of using force " which was not necessary, reasonable and proportionate" against The Girl .

If the complaint is upheld The Incident would amount to Gross Misconduct .

On Monday, the hearing was told The Girl was still clutching The Garden Shears when PC Broadhead discharged the Taser and had not listened to his commands to drop them.

The Girl , referred to as Child A at the hearing, had grown angry with her mother.

Miss A , her mother, had confiscated her Mobile Phone because of a safeguarding concern about her online activity, the hearing was told.

Giving evidence, Miss A said She feared The Girl 's behaviour may have been affected by consuming cannabis edibles, and said She called 999 after She started threatening her with The Hammer and Shears .

She claimed Her Daughter hit her with The Hammer before police arrived, but said She was a safe distance away from her when officers got there and did not want her to be Tasered.

Olivia Checa-Dover, a barrister presenting the case for The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said The Incident breached professional standards.

She Said The Officer " accepts the factual elements" and That the issue for The Panel is whether This Was " consistent with high standards".

The " brief circumstances including the Age Of Child A were relayed over the airwaves" to PC Broadhead and his colleague PC Stephen Morgan before they arrived, Ms Checa-Dover added.

She Said The Incident was captured on the officers' body-worn camera and in the footage Miss A " was presenting as calm".

Ms Checa-Dover said " Child A is seen some way from The Door , Further Along the hallway" and " appears to pick something up - Now understood to be Shears - from the floor".

She added: " The Officer instructed her to put them down, which She did not do.

" She walked away from those present, Moving Up The Stairs of the home.

" The Officer didn't speak to Miss A to clarify The Present situation or whether there was anyone else in The House ; rather, he advanced into The House announcing he was a Police Officer with a Taser and soon thereafter using his Taser twice on her whilst She was on The Stairs . "

Ms Checa-Dover said The Incident left Child A with " three barbs in her skin" which had to be removed by paramedics.

" She was kept in hospital overnight, discharged The Following Day , at which point The Barb injuries were still tender, " She Said

Miss A told the hearing She wanted The Police to convince Her Daughter to put down The Hammer and Shears " by talking to her".

She Said : " I remember My Daughter sitting in The Kitchen on a chair with The Hammer and Shears and She quickly got up - I feel That She was scared - and She quickly ran up The Stairs .

" As She was running up The Stairs She was shot with the Taser. "

Miss A said She was " shocked" by " The Way things were handled".

She added: " I wouldn't have called The Police if I knew She would have been Tasered. "

'Things got really bad'

Asked if The Experience has affected whether She would call The Police again, She Said : " If a child's involved, yes. "

Robert Morris , representing PC Broadhead, told Miss A : " Things had got really bad on That Day . . and it started off because you were concerned with your daughter and who She was dealing with online.

" You were concerned for her welfare and so you had Taken Away her Mobile Phone , and She reacted very badly to That . . She just got more and more aggressive. "

He asked Miss A if Her Daughter holding The Hammer and Shears scared her, to which She replied: " Yes. "

Mr Morris went on: " So when you called up 999, it was because you were scared of what your daughter might do to you? "

Miss A said: " Correct. "

PC Morgan said he was concerned for his own safety during The Incident and That the 10-year-old, still armed with the Shears , had gained a " positional advantage" after She moved on to The Stairs .

Asked why he at no point challenged PC Broadhead " on the basis he used disproportionate force" He Said his colleague's actions had brought the high-risk situation to a " safe halt".

The hearing continues.

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Source of news: bbc.com