Pepper spray arrest man awarded £22k in damages

A man sprayed in the face with an incapacitant gas at close range by a special constable has been paid £22,300 in damages by Merseyside Police.

Owen Andrews was on a night out in Liverpool city centre on 10 June 2022 when he was taken to the ground, arrested and sprayed with Pava gas - a more modern variant of pepper spray.

Mr Andrews, of Dudley in the West Midlands, was hauled into a police van and spent 11 hours in custody before being released without charge.

The 24-year-old, who has no criminal record, told the BBC he was not offered water to clear the powerful chemical off his face until he arrived in custody.

Merseyside Police initially said an officer had believed somebody may have been carrying a knife, but its legal team later accepted liability and agreed to settle the case outside of court with the money and a letter of apology.

Video footage of Mr Andrews' arrest showed him lying motionless on his back with his hands on his chest, while an officer shouted at him to get on to his front.

Moments later the officer shouts "Pava, Pava, Pava" before spraying the gas into his face.

"It just made me not ever want to go back to Liverpool and keep away from Merseyside Police," Mr Andrews said.

"It's actually put me off going out on nights out now, I'm kind of scared of the police and scared to speak to the police because of what's happened."

'Couldn't breathe'

The special constable who sprayed Mr Andrews was charged with common assault and faced a trial at Manchester Magistrates' Court in 2023, but was found not guilty by a district judge.

Merseyside Police launched an internal investigation after Mr Andrews made a complaint, but its professional standards department said the officer had "no case to answer" for misconduct.

In a letter to Mr Andrews, the department said the special constable had a "reasonable albeit mistaken" belief that he may have had a knife, making the use of force "reasonable".

However, Mr Andrews launched a civil claim for false imprisonment and assault.

Mr Andrews said being sprayed with the incapacitant gas had been an intensely painful experience.

"It actually really affected me. I've got asthma and I couldn't breathe, my eyes went completely swollen, I basically felt like I was dying because it was that strong and went all in my eyes and throat.

"I was just dribbling and spitting all the way back to the police station."

Mr Andrews said he and his friends had been walking along Seel Street to their hotel after getting food from a Subway store when his friend waved to a police van.

He said he was walking ahead of his friend when he realised officers appeared to be detaining him, so decided to film the interaction because he felt his friend "had done nothing wrong".

'Brutalised'

"I was a bit worried for my friend's safety and him getting arrested, and if any of it went further and he got in some sort of trouble that obviously I'd have something documented," he said.

However, after moving around the back of the van to film his friend, an officer grabbed hold of Mr Andrews, ripping his T-shirt and taking him to the ground.

Mr Andrews' solicitor Iain Gould, of DPP Law, said: "In this case, my client was brutalised and then threatened with being criminalised, all for the 'non-crime' of recording officers on his mobile phone.

"The level of the damages he has secured demonstrates the seriousness of the police wrongdoing on this occasion."

Merseyside Police said the officer had undergone a "reflective practice review" and a "comprehensive" investigation had taken place.

The force added: "When there is any suggestion that [our] standards have not been met, we will always take positive action and identify any learning."