A police officer unlawfully Tasered a naked
suspect who threw a pair of underpants at
his head during a strip search, a court has heard.
PC Lee Birch is accused of discharging his
weapon without warning on to the bare chest
of suspect Daniel Dove in a police cell in
Melksham, Wiltshire.
Mr Dove was arrested outside a nightclub and
was charged with being drunk and disorderly
and assaulting PC Birch and a second officer,
though the case against him was later dropped.
Prosecuting, Robin Shellard, told a jury Birch
had used the 'prohibited weapon' in a way that
was not 'necessary, lawful or proportionate'.
Mr Dove told the Bristol crown court: 'I was
compliant the whole time I was in that cell, I
wasn't violent at all.
'He [Birch] asked me to get naked, which I did.
I did feel I had shown enough so they knew I
had nothing on me.
'When he asked me to do it, I did feel quite
embarrassed. I took my pants off and flicked
them at him, towards his face. I was annoyed
at him.'
He added: 'As soon as I flicked my pants at
him, he pulled his arm up from behind his
back and shot me with a Taser.
'There was a lot of pain.'
Birch was charged with assault occasioning
actual bodily harm and misconduct in a public
office following the incident in December
2012, which he denies.
The trial continues.
[METRO UK]
