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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Caroline Davies

Sussex police officers cleared of assault against one-legged 92-year-old man

Donald Burgess Rachel Comotto Stephen Smith Police Sussex
PC Rachel Comotto and PC Stephen Smith composite.
Smith (right) sprayed synthetic Pava pepper spray into Burgess’s face and used his baton to try to knock the knife out of Burgess’s hand, and Comotto (left) deployed her Taser. Composite: PA

Two police officers who used a Taser and synthetic pepper spray on a one-legged 92-year-old man in a care home have been cleared of assault but will now face gross misconduct hearings.

PC Stephen Smith, 51, and PC Rachel Comotto, 36, were found not guilty of assaulting Donald Burgess during a confrontation at Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, in June 2022.

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