DORSET’S police and crime commissioner has called for a change in the law after revealing that one or more people with mental health issues were tasered in cells in the county.

Martyn Underhill has written to Dorset’s chief constable, Debbie Simpson, expressing his concern and says the public will be shocked to learn that this had been done to vulnerable individuals.

There were three such taser incidents in Dorset since 2013, believed to have been in the custody suites at Bournemouth and Weymouth. It’s unclear if all three were detained under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Underhill, who is the national PCC lead for mental health, described the situation, which is a UK wide problem, as “wholly unacceptable” and has taken the matter up with the Home Office.

He wants the government to draft new guidance to ban the use of tasers on detainees in police cells.

The PCC told the Echo: “I am really concerned by this practice which is a national problem.

“If, as an ex police officer, I am shocked to learn about it, imagine how the public will feel. The police service needs stricter boundaries on deployment, and stronger scrutiny when they do deploy.

“Just as I have campaigned to stop the appalling practice of children in mental health crisis being criminalised in custody suites, so I will campaign to stop mentally ill people being tasered in a cell.”

Mr Underhill said the police as a whole had allowed ‘mission creep’ and now tasers were routinely carried and deployed as an alternative to all types of restraint. Parliament now needed to intervene and “swing the pendulum back”.

He added: “It will never be okay to taser someone who is scared, frightened and in crisis in a small cell. People have human rights and their dignity must be protected.”

In his letter to Debbie Simpson, Mr Underhill asks for details of the three incidents and a commitment that his office will be told within 24 hours if a taser is fired in a cell in future.

He also wants a guarantee that whenever possible, taser deployments are videoed to allow for proper scrutiny afterwards.

He says he accepts that Dorset police is following national ACPO guidance, complies with it and is no different from any other force.

The Daily Echo is running a campaign, They Deserve Better, which is highlighting failings in the mental health care system.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said they were at the early stages of investigating the three incidents mentioned.

Scrutiny is ‘welcomed’

Assistant Chief Constable David Lewis told the Daily Echo: “We welcome scrutiny about the way we use force in the course of protecting the public in Dorset and will respond to the PCC’s letter as requested.

“Dorset Police follows strict national approved professional practice for the use of Taser. “This method of intervention is not deployed lightly but rather as a last resort; for example, if due to the circumstances, officers believed that it was the best way to ensure somebody’s safety.

“This could be the case if an arrested person is causing themselves harm and there is an immediate need to prevent it continuing.

“I have confidence in the professionalism and decision making of the specially trained officers who have access to Tasers within Dorset Police. There is proper guidance and professional practice set, together with a command structure, in order to ensure the use of Taser is fully justified.”