Former PC not guilty of assault during arrest

Gediminas Palubinskas, a former PC with Gwent Police, has been found not guilty of assaulting Mikael Boukhari, pictured

A former police officer has been found not guilty of assault while arresting a man in Newport.

Gediminas Palubinskas, who was a PC with Gwent Police at the time, had been trying to apprehend Mikael Boukhari for driving without a licence.

The jury at Swansea Crown Court was shown video footage as part of the trial of the two men in the back garden of a property in Livale Court, Newport in July 2021.

The footage shown to the jury also included body-worn camera from the day before the incident, when Mikael Boukhari was pulled over by the former police constable.

Mr Boukhari admitted during his evidence in court that he was driving while disqualified and ran away from the scene.

When Mr Boukhari agreed to meet up with two officers including Mr Palubinskas the next day, on 9 July 2021, he ran again when they tried to arrest him with Mr Palubinskas following Mr Boukhari into a garden at Livale Court.

Video footage shown in court taken by a witness and friend of Mr Boukhari shows part of what happened.

In it Tammy Foster Wells can be heard shouting "get off him" repeatedly as well as Mr Palubinskas telling Mr Boukhari to get off his arm.

Mr Boukhari suffered a small "fracture in his hand" as well as "bumps and bruises" but admitted he had "bitten" Palubinskas' arm and "punched" at him during the incident.

Mr Ieuan Rees, prosecuting argued to the jury that Mr Palubinskas was "the aggressor" in this case, claiming he was a "bully" and "uses his uniform to justify any action that he takes".

Mr Boukhari had claimed he ran away on 9 July 2021 "because of the way he wanted to grab me" and was "scared" of Mr Palubinskas.

But Mrs Sharonjit Bahia, defending said Mr Palubinskas "did no more than what was reasonable" to apprehend Mr Boukhari and was acting in "lawful self-defence" believing the complainant was about to attack him.

During his testimony Mr Palubinskas explained that the punches he sustained to the head left him with "blurred vision" and he had pressed the emergency button on his radio when he felt "one more punch and I would be on the floor".

While summing up the case Judge Huw Rees explained to the jury that "what is shown in the footage is consistent with police training" and that it was a decision for the jury whether the force used on that day was proportionate.

The jury at Swansea Crown Court returned less than two hours later with a unanimous decision of not guilty.

Gediminas Palubinskas, pictured, was a PC with Gwent Police at the time and had been trying to apprehend Mikael Boukhari for driving without a licence

In a statement IOPC Director David Ford said: "Police officers are given significant powers to use force, but the manner in which they use force must be reasonable and proportionate.

"Given the seriousness of the allegation, it was important this incident was independently and thoroughly investigated.

"After we presented our evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, it authorised the charge of actual bodily harm. Having heard and tested the evidence, the court has now reached its decision."

He added the IOPC would now liaise with the force on the next steps regarding a misconduct hearing for ex-PC Palubinskas, after their investigation found he had a case to answer for gross misconduct, in relation to the force he used and other potential breaches of police standards for professional behaviour.

Gwent Police's temporary deputy chief constable Mark Hobrough said in a statement that it was "important that this individual was given a fair trial by a jury".

"The officer was dismissed by Gwent Police following an accelerated misconduct hearing which was in relation to separate allegations around inappropriate actions while he was suspended pending the outcome of this trial," he said.

"Palubinskas showed repeated unprofessional behaviour which will not be accepted by us nor our communities.

"We police with the consent of the public and behaviour such as this only serves to undermine the vast majority of police officers and staff who work tirelessly to protect the public with dignity and courage every day," he added.