A police officer has been sacked after repeatedly punching a man and giving a "dishonest account" of the incident. PC Rowan Knight of South Wales Police kneed the man and placed him in a headlock during the Cardiff arrest as well as asking him: "Do you want some more?"
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) began an investigation into PC Knight in February 2021 after a complaint over the arrest, which had happened the previous month on Northern Avenue. An IOPC spokesperson said: "We examined allegations including whether there were legitimate grounds for arrest, and whether the force used in punching the man several times to the face while holding him in a headlock and kneeing him in the ribs was proportionate in the circumstances. It was also alleged that PC Knight escalated the situation unnecessarily by his use of force, and that he later provided a statement that described a different version of events to those captured on police footage."
The investigation included reviewing body-cam footage and accounts from the other two officers at the scene as well as the man who was arrested. There was then a disciplinary hearing overseen by an independent and legally qualified chair.
