PC denies GBH after Tasered man fell from building

Stock image of an officer demonstrating a new Taser. It is a close up shot of a man's hands holding a yellow taser, with the name Taser 7 on it and there are two red cartridges visible.Image source, PA Media
Image caption,

The man was Tasered in Woodford Green, east London, on 24 April 2022

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A Metropolitan Police officer has denied inflicting grievous bodily harm after he was accused of Tasering a man who then fell off an outbuilding and was left with life-changing injuries.

PC Liam Newman, based at Ilford Police Station, is accused of unlawfully and maliciously wounding 61-year-old Leonard Sandiford in Woodford Green, east London, on 24 April 2022.

He pleaded not guilty to the offence at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

PC Newman, of Hornchurch, was granted unconditional bail ahead of his next court appearance on 18 December at Southwark Crown Court.

The court heard the police officer, 30, was chasing Mr Sandiford on foot on Chigwell Road when he climbed on to "a shed structure" and fell after being Tasered, according to police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IOPC carried out a year-long investigation before passing a file to the Crown Prosecution Service, which then authorised the charge.

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