Vulnerable teen 'left with headaches' after Essex Police officer hit her

PC Toby Bailey resigned from Essex Police on 4 January

A teenage girl was left with severe headaches after being struck by a police officer, a hearing was told.

The 17-year-old, who was handcuffed, was hit in the temple by the elbow of former Essex Police constable Toby Bailey on 17 May 2022.

Mr Bailey, who does not deny what happened, said the girl was trying to bite him and was "verbally aggressive".

A police misconduct hearing is assessing whether his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Mr Bailey, who resigned from the force on 4 January, claimed he was acting in self-defence when he delivered a strike to the temple of the girl, referred to as Miss A.

She had been detained at Basildon Hospital under the Mental Health Act (MHA) after expressing suicidal thoughts to police officers.

The girl, referred to as Miss A, had been detained under the Mental Health Act at Basildon Hospital

However, when Miss A refused to move from the public A&E waiting area to a small, private room for MHA admissions, she became "irate and unhappy", the hearing was told.

Mr Bailey, who was called to the scene by another officer as back-up, subsequently handcuffed her and escorted her into the room.

But once inside the room, Miss A tried to free herself from his and another officer's grip before she was struck across the left side of her face by Mr Bailey's elbow.

Body-worn footage played to the hearing showed Miss A ask another officer, police sergeant Amy Butler, "is he allowed to do that?" to which PS Butler said: "Yes, because you were going for him".

'I was trying to survive'

In a recorded police interview from 2022, Miss A said she was terrified and at no point was she "trying to attack" Mr Bailey or the other three attending police officers.

"I thought no one would believe me, and felt very alone in that situation. I remember feeling very tiny, and didn't trust anyone after that," she said.

"I was trying to survive my own mind at the time but having a grown man give me more reasons to want to die… was not something I needed."

After the strike, Mr Bailey wrote an incident report that the elbow blow he had dealt to Miss A had only used approximately "40% effort".

However, Miss A complained of experiencing painful headaches for a number of days following the incident and being unable to sleep.

The hearing continues.