Greater Manchester Police officer sacked for Tasering handcuffed man

Phillip Smith used the Taser after the vulnerable man was handcuffed, a panel hears

A police officer who "lost his temper" and Tasered a handcuffed man has been sacked more than a year after admitting assault.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer Phillip Smith, 47, used the Taser six times at a house in Dukinfield, Tameside, in June 2018.

GMP said his excessive use of force on a man suffering from mental health difficulties was "wholly unjust".

A force disciplinary panel decided his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

PC Smith was carrying out a welfare check in June 2018 when he Tasered the 29-year-old victim twice in his bedroom, twice in his hall and porch, and twice in the front garden, GMP said.

During the three-day hearing, Charles Apthorp, representing GMP, said Smith's behaviour amounted to a "breach of professional standards and was a discredit to the police service".

"The victim had not committed any offence and there was no reasonable reason to suspect he had," he added.

'No warning'

Panel Chairman Paul Forster said the discharges outside the bedroom were "gratuitous" and with "excessive force" after he had "failed to reassess the situation when the victim was in handcuffs".

"Once outside the bedroom, the victim did not pose a risk, PC Smith failed to give a warning and there was no justification for discharging his Taser," he said.

"PC Smith lost his temper - It was a gratuitous act to cause pain with no justification. PC Smith lost self-control and failed to show the victim respect."

Det Ch Supt Michael Allen, head of GMP's professional standards branch, said: "The force used was disproportionate, wholly unjust and clearly in breach of the officer's training."

Following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the officer admitted common assault at Preston Crown Court.

He was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 compensation in September 2021.

Smith will also be added to the College of Policing Barred List.

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