This is the moment a Croydon Met Police officer wrongfully arrested a woman for bus fare evasion in front of her crying son. PC Perry Lathwood was found guilty of assault at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday (May 17) after grabbing Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm, causing bruising injuries, during an arrest on Whitehorse Road on July 21 last year.
The 50-year-old, of Norman’s Bay, East Sussex, was said by the judge to have ‘made an error of judgement and over reacted’ while helping Transport for London inspectors during a fare evasion operation. Ms Agyemang was dropping off her son at her mum’s house before heading to an appointment in Marylebone when she was approached by a ticket inspector just after 11am.
She asked the inspector to walk with her as she got her pass out, because she was in a hurry, but she was stopped by a PCSO. Body worn footage then shows PC Lathwood take hold of Ms Agyemang’s arm to stop her walking away as he tells her she is being detained for fare evasion. After a struggle, and repeated requests to be released, she was put in handcuffs by PC Lathwood.
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But when inspectors scanned her bus pass, it confirmed she had paid for her journey. The handcuffs were removed and she was dearrested. During this time, members of the public intervened and pleaded with officers to let her go. Distressing bystander footage of Ms Agyemang asking to be released, while her son cried and sobbed in the background, then went viral on social media.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram ruled it was ‘not necessary’ for Lathwood to ‘grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her’ as he found Lathwood guilty of assault after a one-day trial.
“She was difficult,” the judge said, “but there were not reasonable grounds to suggest arrest was necessary… The officer made an error of judgment and over reacted. Handcuffing inflamed the situation even further.”
Lathwood, who wore a blue checked suit in the dock, did not react as the judge gave his verdict. Mr Ikram said Lathwood’s claims that he acted to protect Ms Agyemang’s child were ‘fanciful’ and that he ‘simply did not believe him’. “The officer’s evidence lacked all credibility,” he added.
During the trial, prosecutor Paul Jarvis said ‘there was no necessity for an arrest’. Ms Agyemang said she felt ‘very violated’ by the incident. “I just felt like they did not care,” she told the court. “I just felt a bit degraded because I had not done anything wrong.”
‘Force should be reasonable’
The police watchdog investigated the incident, drawing on body worn footage, videos taken by the public, and CCTV from the bus. Ms Agyemang gave her account of the assault, reporting pain in her wrists, right arm, and shoulder, with bruising noted by the doctor.
After gathering evidence from police and TfL staff, police records, national policies and legislation, and an interview under caution with PC Lathwood, the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) handed its findings to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised a charge of assault by beating.
IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “Today a judge has found that the use of force by PC Lathwood against the woman after her arrest, including the use of handcuffs and holding onto her arm, was unlawful and he has been convicted of assault.
“Any use of force by officers should be reasonable, proportionate and justifiable in the circumstances. This was a high-profile incident that caused significant concern, particularly in the Croydon community, after footage of the incident was published online.
“We carried out an independent and impartial investigation to establish the facts surrounding this incident, including the actions of the police officers involved. The decision to refer a file of evidence to the CPS to consider criminal charges is not something we take lightly and this was done after careful consideration of the evidence, including liaison with the CPS.”
‘We apologise to the woman and the wider community’
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist described the guilty verdict as a ‘huge setback’ and cast some blame towards the fare evasion operation for putting officers in ‘potentially challenging situations with the public’. The senior Met officer, who leads Met Operations, also said the force will continue to support PC Lathwood and ensure officers have the confidence to act decisively.
“This verdict is a huge setback to our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners,” said AC Twist. “We will learn the lessons from this and we apologise to the woman and the wider community who were deeply affected. Anyone who has seen the footage of this incident will be upset by how it escalated into a traumatic situation for a mother and her child.”
But he also said the force will wait to see if PC Lathwood appeals the conviction before taking any steps in the misconduct process, as they ‘work to fully understand the decision of the court and its implications for policing’. Scotland Yard has indicated it does not intend to consider an accelerated misconduct hearing, even though these are usually considered for officers who are convicted.
AC Twist also suggested that his officers had been put in a difficult situation by working with TfL on the operation. “The nature of this kind of fare evasion operation unnecessarily places officers in potentially challenging interactions with the public,” he claimed. “Since this incident happened, we have stopped our involvement in supporting Transport for London fare evasion operations, but we continue our presence on the bus network tackling violent crime.”
AC Twist added: “The Met will continue to work with communities, to transform our culture and improve how we engage with all Londoners – by embedding our values of empathy, integrity, respect, courage and being accountable across the whole organisation.”
Lathwood, who is attached to the Metropolitan Police’s Road Traffic Policing Command, will be sentenced on June 14 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
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