Met officer sacked over unlawful stop and search

A Metropolitan Police officer has been sacked for gross misconduct over what a disciplinary panel found to be an unlawful stop and search of an innocent man.

PC Martin Binala was serving on the Met’s violence suppression unit, based at Southall police station, at the time of the incident in Hounslow in September 2021.

He and his colleague PC Stuart Dunne, who was found guilty of the lesser disciplinary charge of misconduct, were ruled to have breached police standards of professional behaviour.

The disciplinary panel in Southwark heard the victim, aged 28, needed hospital treatment for his injuries and believed he was being attacked by robbers.

'Botched operation'

Representing the Met Police, Alan Jenkins told the hearing the search had been "a botched operation'" and that there had been a “comprehensive failure to follow the proper approach” regarding a stop and search.

The panel heard the man had been sitting inside his parked Mercedes when an unmarked police car drew up with three officers inside including PC Binala and PC Dunne, who were in plain clothes.

PC Binala told the hearing that he carried out the search after detecting a strong smell of cannabis from the Mercedes, but the panel found he lied because the window of the car was closed.

Panel chair Christopher McKay said body-worn video footage captured by a police sergeant who was also present showed the officers verbally abusing the man, and the struggle appeared to involve them "hitting or beating" him.

The man told the panel following the incident he is “still very apprehensive” around police officers.

Although PC Binala said he had shown the man his warrant card, the man said he did not recall this, and the panel accepted that in the dark he would not have understood PC Binala was a police officer, as he was "wrestled to the ground".

Despite not finding any drugs on the man or in his vehicle - and although he suffered "numerous cuts and abrasions" - the panel heard he remained in handcuffs for about 40 minutes and neither officer used the first-aid kit in their vehicle.

The two officers were also criticised over a delay in taking him to hospital and for not wearing body-worn cameras.

The officers argued the cameras would have identified them as police officers, but the panel found they should have been wearing them as soon as they set out on patrol.

‘Disproportionate and unreasonable’

The panel found PC Dunne was guilty of misconduct and he was given a written warning.

It decided that because he was not involved in the initial confrontation, he had genuinely believed that his colleague had informed the man they were police officers and that the man was resisting arrest.

However, PC Dunne’s use of PAVA spray was found to be "unnecessary, disproportionate and unreasonable".

Representing PC Binala, Amanda Bostock told the panel that he was the most junior officer there, and that he had received no separate training on carrying out a stop and search as a plain-clothes officer.

The panel was told the police sergeant who was also involved in the incident was to face a misconduct meeting.