A dad of two says he was left with a broken wrist and thumb and a bite wound that bled for 24 hours after being attacked by a police dog. William Campbell says he was left in a pool of blood when he was mistakenly attacked by a police-owned German Shepherd.
The 51-year-old retired teacher also suffered bites, scratches and bruising and had to undergo surgery to set his wrist. He had stitches and had to have the nail replaced on his thumb. Police say there is 'no indication that a criminal offence has been committed by the dog handler or that he has behaved in a manner that would justify bringing disciplinary proceedings against him'.
William told BirminghamLive the incident happened after his partner heard breaking glass. He said: "Someone was breaking into our neighbour's shed. She got a description of the fella, a white guy in his 20s, so I went out to see if I could see anything."
He returned home and told his partner to call the police before heading outside but said again. William said he heard "rustling" and a man jumped from a tree onto the path in front of him, holding a pint glass. He denied being involved in the break-in.
William required surgery to attach a nail bed back onto his damaged thumb (Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
William said: "He kept looking at me in a funny way and I said 'don't come at me with that glass' and raised my hand out to keep a distance. To my surprise, he threw it on the floor. He then started talking about his anxiety and I told him we'd clear everything up when the police got there - I'd text my missus to tell her I was with the suspect and where I was so she could relay it to them."
William said a face then appeared over a fence - who he assumed was a policeman - causing the suspect to run. "I gave chase and he tripped on the curb and his phone fell out of his pocket. As I get to him, he squares up to me, meanwhile, I don't know what the police officer was doing behind me. I tried to grab him and threw a right hand out and missed. He runs and I give chase again but then I suddenly felt my legs being tripped up, I look down and saw the dog.
"It was biting me and it locked onto my left arm, I was saying 'I'm not the burglar, that's the burglar running away', he must have seen him as well. I was in a crumpled heap getting chewed by this dog and it didn't release me until a police car turned up. The officer just let the dog maul me, I was telling him that his dog was breaking my arm and he just said 'be still'."
William's leg injuries
William said officers put him in handcuffs - and ignored his plea for an ambulance until he gave them his name. "I told them if I was unconscious, they wouldn't get any details and would just call me an ambulance," he said.
He said he'd asked officers to call his partner, who is also a police officer, from his phone to back up his story, adding it was only when another officer turned up who recognised him that the cuffs were taken off. He was then able to "hobble home" and an ambulance was called.
A complaint was put into the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The officer remains on active duty. William said he didn't hear the officer issue a warning before releasing the dog.
The IOPC has passed the matter to the force's Police Standards Department.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Mr Campbell’s complaint was initially referred to the IOPC. It is now being investigated by our Police Standards Department. We have carried out an assessment and there is no indication that a criminal offence has been committed by the officer or that he has behaved in a manner that would justify bringing disciplinary proceedings against him. However, the assessment will remain under review. The officer has no restrictions to his duties."
An IOPC spokesman added: "We carefully assessed a referral from West Midlands Police last month into the incident in Walsall involving a dog handler. We determined that a local investigation, to be carried out by the force’s professional standards department, was appropriate.
"We advised the force that an investigation was required in order to identify whether the dog handler appropriately assessed the full circumstances and risk at the time and whether injuries sustained by a member of the public could reasonably have been prevented. If no police conduct is identified, the IOPC retains a level of oversight of local investigations by reviewing the force’s final investigation report.
"Since making our decision, we have now received a further referral from West Midlands Police which we are assessing, setting out a complaint from the man who was injured.”
