A man arrested by police was so aggressive he had to be held in leg braces, handcuffs and a spit hood, a police misconduct hearing was told. Tariq Evans ran at a police van, headbutting the window, shouted a volley of abuse, threatened officers, kicked one and bit another so hard he needed hospital treatment, the panel heard.
Police sergeant Rhodri Davies faces allegations that the force he used against Mr Evans when he was brought into Swansea Central Police Station shortly after arrest on October 24, 2022 was unlawful and amounted to gross misconduct. Sgt Davies denies all the allegations before the hearing which follows the jailing of another police officer for his actions during the incident.
PC Jack Williams, 27, was recorded on another officer’s body camera beating Mr Evans after chasing him after an allegation of criminal damage. Williams, who the hearing was told received hospital treatment for a bite inflicted by Evans after the arrest, was found guilty of assault by beating at a trial at Newport Crown Court in August 2023 and jailed for 12 weeks. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
A separate investigation into Sgt Davies’ conduct was launched after an officer present in the custody suite, PC Steve Rees, alleged that Sgt Davies also used excessive force “for no reason” on the prisoner. On day three of a police misconduct hearing into Sgt Davies’ actions other officers at the scene described Mr Evans as highly aggressive and a risk to himself and officers.
The 6ft 7in detainee was “highly agitated”, making threats, kicked, bit, spat and may have been high on drugs, the hearing on Wednesday, January 8 was told. Colin Banham, barrister for Sgt Davies, said that when officers arrived to arrest Mr Evans in Swansea on October 24, 2022, his response was to slam his head on the police van, run off and then “assault sergeant (Jonathan) Shadwick”, one of the officers at the scene.
“Mr Evans was highly aggressive, highly agitated, in fact extremely violent towards officers,” Mr Banham told the panel, adding that he was “a particularly violent individual” and so much so that arresting officers had to use hand cuffs, leg braces and a spit hood as well as alert custody staff before bringing him into Swansea Central police station.
The panel had earlier heard how PC Rees told bosses he believed Sgt Davies used excessive force “for no reason” on Mr Evans. But under questioning from Mr Banham on day three of the hearing Mr Rees, who has more than 20 years experience, said he had not witnessed what he considered excessive force and agreed that if he had done so he would have raised the matter immediately.
Video footage from officers’ bodycam and CCTV in the police station show Mr Evans in a highly agitated state with Sgt Davies and PC Ronan Rickwood holding him with his hands cuffed behind his back, but the leg braces off, in the station. The prisoner was swearing and shouting at officers saying “I’m a f***ing big boy” and “I’ll f****** smash you all up”, Mr Banham told the hearing.
At one point Sgt Davies can be heard apparently telling Mr Evans not to be “a f****** p****” while PC Rickwood tells him to “relax”. PC Rickwood, who had been a police officer for just two years at the time he was involved in Mr Evans’ arrest, said he was trying to calm the detainee and build rapport with him.
He had sat with Mr Evans on the 15 minute drive in a police van on the way back to the station after his arrest and felt he had de-escalated matters to some extent. But asked how aggressive the detainee was on a scale of one to 10 PC Rickwood told the hearing without hesitation: “nine.”
It was when PC Rickwood turned away from holding Mr Evans in the police station to speak to the desk sergeant, leaving Sgt Davies the only officer holding him, that it is alleged Sgt Davies took him to the floor, the hearing was told.
“I don’t know what happened but next thing I have turned and Sgt Davies and Tariq Evans were on the floor,” PC Rickwood said in his witness statement, adding: “And Tariq Evans’ behaviour had escalated.”
Video footage played to the hearing from that point appears to show Sgt Davies striking Mr Evans on the floor. But PC Rickwood said he didn’t know where the strike landed or why it happened.
“I have seen force used on Tariq Evans. As far as I was aware it was justified,” his statement added. Asked by Mr Banham if he thought the force used by Sgt Davies was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” PC Rickwood agreed that he did.
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Another police officer also at the scene told the hearing she felt the force used was necessary, given the aggression shown by Mr Evans. In her witness statement taken six months after the incident, read in part to the hearing, PC Sophie Harry said: “I have not witnessed any excessive force being used on Tariq Evans.”
She told the hearing that she could recall little of what happened two years on from the arrest but agreed Mr Evans had been “very violent” and presented a risk to himself and officers. However, PC Harry who is authorised to use a taser, said she had not felt it appropriate to use one on this occasion.
The allegations in full
Sgt Davies, who joined South Wales Police in 2004 and became a sergeant in 2009, faces the following allegations, all of which he denies:
- That on October 24, 2022, whilst on duty as a custody sergeant at Swansea Central police station custody suite as custody sergeant he breached the following Standards of Professional Behaviour:
Standard 4 – Use of Force. Police officers only use force to the extent that is necessary, proportionate, and reasonable in all circumstances.
Standard 9 – Discreditable Conduct. Police officers do not behave in a manner that discredits the police service or undermines public confidence, whether on or off duty.
It is contended that the officer used force that was unnecessary, disproportionate, and unreasonable and that the force used was unlawful in all the circumstances.
The hearing continues.