Ex-PC who headbutted prisoner guilty of misconduct

The hearing was screened at West Yorkshire Police HQ in Wakefield

A former West Yorkshire police officer who headbutted a handcuffed prisoner twice as an act of retaliation has been found guilty of gross misconduct.

Scott Walton attacked the male suspect after he was repeatedly verbally abused and headbutted himself while arresting the man in Leeds on 18 February 2023.

Mr Walton resigned from the force in October after pleading guilty to a charge of assault.

A misconduct panel on Friday ruled he would have been dismissed for the incident in any case, following a hearing screened at West Yorkshire Police HQ in Wakefield.

Presenting the case for the police authority, Mike Percival said Mr Walton had attended a property in a tower block on Wellington Street with a colleague after a report of a domestic incident.

He said a man was arrested at at the address and handcuffed behind his back, before being led back to a police van.

'Foul Anglo-Saxon language'

It was said that the suspect became verbally abusive and headbutted Mr Walton as he sat in the back of the van, at which point the officer "lost his temper" and responded by headbutting him in the "face and head" twice.

The proceedings heard his colleague had to haul Mr Walton away and him from returning the van as he shouted "foul Anglo-Saxon language" in the direction of the suspect.

Mr Percival said the officer had then returned to the police station where he immediately told his supervisor of the incident and was subsequently arrested.

In interviews he initially claimed his conduct was "necessary and proportionate" to prevent an attack on him and his colleague.

But it was said he did not repeat this defence when he appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court charged with assault in August 2023.

He pleaded guilty and was later given a 12-month community order and fined £600.

The panel was told Mr Walton had been an officer for three years and that concerns had previously been raised about his "behaviour and demeanour" with difficult suspects, although on one occasion he had been praised for his handling of a similar situation.

The hearing was not told whether the prisoner had suffered any injuries himself.

Concluding the case, panel chair Stephen Gowland said the matter was so serious that only dismissal from the force would have been "sufficient" punishment for the officer.

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