Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
A police inspector who used “significant” force to restrain a vulnerable 16-year-old boy filming in a public place near a police station for a YouTube “auditing” channel, has been found guilty of assault.
Insp Dean Gittoes resorted to force within 30 seconds of encountering the teenager outside Merthyr Tydfil police station in south Wales, twisting his wrist, forcing him to fall, and holding him by the hood, making it difficult for the boy to breathe.
The boy, who did not resist and cried out in pain throughout the restraint, was arrested by Gittoes, of South Wales police, on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act and held for seven hours before being released without charge.
Gittoes, 49, was convicted after a three-day trial in Cwmbran. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has concluded that he has a case to answer for gross misconduct.
The court heard that the boy was “auditing” the police station on 20 August last year. Auditing refers to an online community of people who record and upload videos of public buildings.
Gittoes, who was off-duty at the time and had gone to the station to pick up a mobile phone, asked the boy: “I am asking you who you are, what’s your name?” When the boy refused to give his details, the inspector arrested him and told him: “You’re a clever little internet freak who’s about to learn the hard way.”
He told colleagues he had dealt with a similar incident six weeks before but his bosses thought it was a joke.
Although Gittoes did not arrest the previous “auditor”, a video of their interaction was uploaded to the internet and attracted thousands of views and comments.
He told colleagues: “Anyone I catch now I don’t give them a second chance. I’ve got 36,000 people on the internet calling me a shit. I thought fuck him this time. I’ll do what I should’ve done last time.”
Convicting Gittoes, the district judge, Sophie Toms, said “significant, unnecessary force” was used. She said: “You grabbed his arm, used force against him, marching him into the station, twisting his wrist, causing him to fall to the floor, pushing him against the wall, grabbing the back of his hoodie, preventing him breathing properly. He was crying out in pain. This was a continued, unlawful assault against a vulnerable 16-year-old boy.”
Gittoes will be sentenced on 27 October.
