Police Brutality, Insensitivity and Militarism/Robotism is all the Rage Now!

[David Guyatt]

Another charming police assault



The cop has been given a "community order" and faces the sack.

Such punishment

Policeman who hit 'snarling' shoplifter on the head faces sack

Pc James Kiddie, who said he hit out after "snarling" woman bit him on finger and claimed she had Aids, faces dismissal

By Agencies

8:36PM GMT 11 Mar 2014


A policeman who punched a shoplifter on the head before pinning her to the ground faces dismissal after being sentenced to a community order.

Pc James Kiddie, 45, who had worked for the Metropolitan Police for 12 years, said he hit out after the "snarling" woman bit him on the finger and claimed that she had the Aids virus.

The judge described the shoplifter as "no shrinking violet", who had used violence "to avoid the consequences of her own actions and her dishonesty".

Sentencing Kiddie at Westminster magistrates' court to a 150-hour community order, District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe accepted his actions were "an instinctive and immediate retaliation in anger".

In November 2012, Kiddie had been called to a clothes store in Regent Street, London, after Sarah Reed had been held by security guards, the court heard.

CCTV footage showed the officer pushing Ms Reed into a chair, grabbing her by the hair and hitting her on the head as she lay on the floor, before leaning on her neck until back-up arrived.
Judge Roscoe told Kiddie: "This was no shrinking violet, this woman, but, as a police officer, obviously higher standards are required from you. I do accept, as I say, that this was an incident of loss of control. There is no premeditation."
Ms Reed was described in court as a drug addict, who was later convicted of shoplifting.
The judge added that evidence on CCTV and of witnesses was that Ms Reed was a "difficult" and "aggressive" woman who had become more aggressive when the police officer arrived.
Last month, Kiddie was found guilty of common assault after a three-day trial.

[SUB]Policeman James Kiddie arrived for sentencing on Tuesday at Westminster Coroners Court London (Gavin Rodgers)[/SUB]

At Tuesday's hearing, he was also ordered to pay £500 in prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
His defence counsel, Ben Brandon, told the court the officer, who had been suspended, would now be dismissed as a result of the court's findings.
Mr Brandon said the punches aimed by Kiddie, a married father of two, had lasted a "split second" and only one, in effect, had "really made contact".
He said being bitten had come as a "complete shock" to Kiddie. He added that the officer had spent 12 years "serving the people of London".
Kiddie said his strikes had been "half power" and he had not wanted to hit her. Victoria Hatton, for Ms Reed, said her client had been the victim of a "brutal" attack by an officer.
"Pc Kiddie threw Ms Reed to the floor, where a light bulb smashed and caused her to suffer a 2cm laceration to her lower back. This was followed by three powerful strikes aimed at Ms Reed's head," she said in a statement for her client.
Simon Byrne, assistant commissioner at the Met, said fellow officers would be sickened by what they saw.
"The actions of one officer abusing his position in this way can cast a shadow over the thousands of officers who are on duty right now demonstrating bravery, compassion, integrity and professionalism," he said. There was no place in the Met for officers "who do not uphold our values", he added.