Bedfordshire Police apologise to Potton man, 81, for arrest injuries

Malcolm Emery has received an apology from Bedfordshire Police following his arrest in which he suffered injuries to his arms

A police force has apologised to an 81-year-old man who was injured while being arrested after an officer "mistakenly" went to his address and looked through his window.

Police said Malcolm Emery initially approached them with a wooden implement outside his home in Potton, Bedfordshire, at 05:00 BST on Friday.

Bedfordshire Police has now concluded he should face no further action.

The force has referred itself to the police watchdog.

Mr Emery said he was watching TV when he saw a face looking through his window.

He told the BBC he went to see what was happening and grabbed the "dog walking stick" because "I didn't know what I was going to be confronted with".

Mr Emery said he had gone outside and ended up being handcuffed and arrested by the officers, causing injuries to his wrists and arms.

He had initially been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker when one of the officers received a cut to her face in what the force said was "an altercation" as officers walked away from the address.

'Never been frightened until now'

The pensioner said two police officers handcuffed him and put him in the back of a police van.

"They bunged me in there handcuffed, oh dear it hurt," he said.

"How can you imagine police doing that? They ripped my bloody arms about. I couldn't make out what was going on."

Mr Emery said he ended up badly bruised and had to go to hospital for treatment.

He added the stick was "down by my side at all times" and the officers "never tried" to take it off him.

"I went out with the stick because there was somebody looking through my window," he said.

"I've never been frightened in my life until now."

The force has already said it was conducting an internal review and had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for "full openness and transparency".

'Got things wrong'

The force said an officer had "mistakenly looked through his window while responding to an unrelated incident".

Deputy Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: "I wanted to say how deeply sorry we are to everyone involved in this incident, which appears to have begun with a simple case of a mistaken address but quickly escalated to a point where a man in his 80s has received injuries to his arms, as a result of being handcuffed, and an officer has suffered a head injury."

He said an apology had been given to Mr Emery as, after reviewing evidence, the force was "content that the officer's injuries were not caused by an intentional act".

"I have also apologised for what happened and the injuries he suffered," he said.

"While it is important we allow any review by the IOPC to be carried out before making any further comment, it is also right that we acknowledge where we have got things wrong and there were opportunities to de-escalate this situation which were not taken."

He also said the force was reviewing footage of the incident for "any immediate learning around dealing with vulnerable people."

The IOPC confirmed it had received the referral and it was being assessed.

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