A POLICE officer was ‘scared and panicked' and overreacted during an arrest of a teenage boy over fears of knife crime, a misconduct panel heard.
PC Lorne Castle is accused of gross misconduct after allegedly using inappropriate force and words during an arrest of a 15-year-old boy in Bournemouth.
It was reported that on January 27, 2024, an elderly man had been assaulted by a masked teenager on an e-scooter on Commercial Road.
The boy allegedly made off from town rangers but was spotted on CCTV outside McDonald’s with a group of people after a second alleged assault at the restaurant.
At around 5.30pm PC Castle and a colleague rushed Richmond Hill to arrest the boy after being instructed to do so by their sergeant.
Body-worn footage showed PC Castle to run towards the boy, shouting that he was under arrest, while grabbing him and taking him to the ground.
PC Castle said he used force on the boy due to concerns of violence and him running away.
READ MORE: Police officer ‘slapped, swore and sat on’ teenage boy
During the incident the boy was heard to “shout uncontrollably” which the officer said took him by surprise and overwhelmed him.
PC Castle repeatedly swore at the teenager, saying “show me your f***ing hands”, “stop screaming like a b**ch” and requested on his radio, “can we have another unit, he’s being a b**ch”.
Giving evidence to the misconduct panel, PC Castle said he was “shocked, scared and overwhelmed”.
He said officers had a safety briefing that morning warning them to be extra vigilant due to outstanding offenders after a large brawl days prior between masked young people with knives.
When asked about swearing and pointing his finger at the boy, PC Castle said he was embarrassed and recognised the behaviour as wrong.
“It is inappropriate, it’s wrong. That’s not [like] me.”
Eventually, four officers detained the teenager boy, during which a knife fell out of his pocket.
PC Castle’s behaviour during he incident came to light after other officers raised concerns with their superiors.
PC Castle said he was panicked due to a similar situation a year prior when he detained a county lines drug dealer who was calling for a friend ‘to cut him up’.
The officer struggled with the male alone before an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer assisted.
The panel also heard that PC Castle has won awards for his policing, including an incident where he rescued a missing elderly woman from the River Avon.
The misconduct hearing continues.
