Declan Jones: Assault PC jailed for six months

Declan Jones was jailed for six months at Birmingham Magistrates' Court

A former police officer has been jailed for six months after he was found guilty of assaulting two members of the public on consecutive days.

Declan Jones' trial heard he attacked a man then kicked and punched a 15-year-old boy the following day while on duty for West Midlands Police in Birmingham.

Both assaults took place during the first Covid-19 lockdown and neither victim had resisted arrest.

The 30-year-old was sacked by the force for gross misconduct on Wednesday.

On 20 April 2020, he kneed and punched a man in Aston, having wrongly suspected him of stealing a phone and a bike.

The following day, in Newtown, Jones attacked a teenager whom he wrongly suspected of drugs offences.

Passing sentence at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, District Judge Shamim Qureshi, said it was not an "isolated incident".

"It was a difficult situation for the whole country, the first lockdown that this country has ever seen," he told Jones.

"The streets were pretty well deserted... there were not many people around to witness what was going on."

Judge Qureshi said the younger victim "is never going to trust a police officer again".

Referring to body-worn camera footage shown to the court of Jones speaking to the victim, the judge said: "He starts crying, he's a 15-year-old - you've just beaten him up twice and the way you talk to him, the sarcastic comments you made to him... It shows how you looked down on him.

"He was simply a child and nothing more."

"I would be failing in my public duty to suspend your sentence," the judge said.

The older complainant accepted in his victim impact statement there were "good and bad officers", the judge said, but added "it doesn't take much for something to affect the reputation of all good officers".

Declan Jones was sacked by West Midlands Police for gross misconduct

Jones was convicted of two counts of assault, but was cleared of assaulting a third complainant who was punched in the face on 23 April, after the judge said the incident had seen the officer use "proportionate" force as colleagues struggled to detain a man in Handsworth.

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Jones was charged after an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IOPC) into allegations of excessive use of force.

Following Jones' dismissal, the force's Chief Constable Sir David Thompson said any "right-thinking member of the public" would find the force used "excessive" and apologised to the victims.

Jones was also ordered to pay a total of £1,000 in compensation to the victims and £3,500 in prosecution costs.