Derbyshire PCs sacked after woman injured in police van

The officers were sacked following a police misconduct hearing

Two officers have been sacked after a woman suffered a head injury when the driver of a police van deliberately braked on the way to custody.

On Thursday Derbyshire Police dismissed PCs Kris Sekhar and Wesley Collins without notice for gross misconduct.

A misconduct panel found PC Sekhar deliberately braked after the woman, who was arrested in Long Eaton, became disorderly in the back of the van.

PC Collins was dismissed for giving a misleading statement to protect Sekhar.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said five officers had faced misconduct charges following the woman's injury, which was sustained in the summer of 2019.

PCs Chloe Burrell, Hannah Butler and Stephanie Merrick had no action taken against them as their breaches of professional standards were found not to amount to misconduct.

The panel heard the complainant - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, and on suspicion of being in possession of drugs.

She was escorted and locked in a nearby police van, but body-worn camera footage appeared to show the woman acting drunkenly and aggressively in the cage part of the van.

The footage then showed PC Burrell swearing at the detainee as she was locked inside the cage mechanism.

'Cat on the road'

Minutes later, PC Sekhar was found to have deliberately braked "sharply" and "for no good reason with the intention of causing an adverse effect on the detainee" after telling his colleagues at the back of the van to "brace" themselves. 

PC Sekhar claimed he braked because of a "cat on the road" - but the independent panel disagreed.

It was claimed the braking - from 33mph (53km/h) to 21mph (34km/h) - led to the woman sustaining a head injury as it caused her to throw herself forward.

When the van arrived at a police station in Derby, she was taken to hospital.

It was heard when giving a statement to the force, PC Collins "concealed" details about the police vehicle braking sharply, when it was accepted he would have had knowledge that was the case. 

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Collins and Sekhar were in tears as their dismissal was announced, but panel chair - legal expert Nick Stanage - said it was the only option as the pair's actions had damaged Derbyshire Police's reputation.

Despite swearing at the detainee, the panel said PC Burrell's actions were "isolated" and she had shown full remorse since, therefore no action was deemed necessary.

The force said in a statement: "We expect our officers to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times and also to act with honesty and integrity.

"These two officers in this case failed to meet these expectations and have been dismissed."

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