Potton: Errors made in arrest of 81-year-old man says PCC

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

A police and crime commissioner said an opportunity was missed to de-escalate a situation that ended with an 81-year-old man being arrested and injured.

Malcolm Emery was put in handcuffs after officers mistakenly went to his home in Potton at 05:00 BST on Friday.

Bedfordshire Police has apologised to Mr Emery and referred itself to the police watchdog.

The county's PCC said he had some "strong words" with the chief constable.

Festus Akinbusoye said: "The error here wasn't so much in going to the wrong address, it was the way in which things escalated so quickly and that's really, really unfortunate.

"There was an opportunity missed by officers, an error was made, and I'm very, very pleased that Bedfordshire Police has apologised."

Festus Akinbusoye said he had "strong words" with Bedfordshire Police's chief constable

Mr Emery had told the BBC he was watching TV when he saw a face looking through his window and grabbed a "dog walking stick" when he went to see what was happening.

He said he went outside and ended up being handcuffed and arrested by the officers, causing injuries to his wrists and arms.

Mr Emery was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker when an officer received a cut to her face, in what the force said was "an altercation" as police walked away from the address.

But the force later concluded Mr Emery should face no further action.

'Got things wrong'

Mr Akinbusoye said the force's apology was "necessary having reviewed what was a situation that could have been handled very differently".

He said: "I'm really pleased that the force has very swiftly looked into this and not waited entirely for an IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) investigation recommendations, apologised and taken responsibility, and begun the process of making sure the likelihood of this happening again is a lot, lot less."

Deputy chief constable Trevor Rodenhurst acknowledged opportunities were missed to de-escalate the situation.

He said he was "deeply sorry" to those involved, which began 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 added: "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."

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

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