Hertfordshire police officers 'held injured boy on ground'

Christian-Lee Thompson before the incident and, afterwards, with his parents Stephen and Lisa

A boy left paralysed after he was knocked off his moped was held to the ground by police at the scene, a misconduct hearing has been told.

Christian-Lee Thompson, 16, was injured while riding on a footpath in Hemel Hempstead.

PCs Stuart Francis and Rishi Patel, from Hertfordshire Police, deny using excessive force on the injured boy.

A witness has told the hearing the officers did not appear concerned about his injuries.

The teenager, then aged 15, was riding the moped with a passenger on the back along the Nickey Line - a footpath which used to be a railway line.

The misconduct hearing was told he was knocked off his moped by a man who was using the footpath and the two officers were responding to reports of the altercation, on 16 July.

The officers are accused of using excessive force and providing dishonest or misleading accounts of what happened.

'Terrible behaviour'

Jared Reed, 18, said he found the boy bleeding and "moaning and groaning" before the officers arrived.

He told the hearing: "PC Stuart Francis's voice was aggressive. He said to Christian-Lee 'you may as well tell the truth as you're going to be arrested anyway'."

Lisa Sandridge, a neighbour who arrived at the scene, said: "His [PC Francis's] behaviour was terrible. He didn't show any concern. He gave him no first aid.

"PC Rishi Patel was kneeling on Christian-Lee's legs as he was worried he was going to be kicked in the face.

"Christian-Lee was in no state to be kicking anyone in the face."

The hearing, in Hatfield, is expected to last until Friday.

In relation to the boy being knocked from the moped, Hertfordshire Police said a 61-year-old man had been arrested but had not been charged.