A Northumbria Police officer who allegedly punched a man twice in the face during an arrest had "other tactical options" available, a misconduct hearing has heard.
PC Ferenc Szilvasi allegedly punched the man while holding handcuffs as he was being arrested on suspicion of stalking in April 2020. It is alleged that the punches were not necessary, proportionate or reasonable in the circumstances, and he is currently facing a misconduct hearing.
It is alleged that the officer’s conduct breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour and amounts to gross misconduct. The officer denies the allegation.
- Read more: Northumbria Police officer allegedly punched man twice in the face during Newcastle arrest
Keep up to date with all the latest news in and around Newcastle with our free newsletter
On the second day of the hearing, which is being held at Houghton Police Station, two use of force experts gave evidence. Liam Fitzpatrick told the hearing that use of force should be "reasonable" during an arrest, with as minimum force necessary and that officers need to "read" situations they are in. He said it is reasonable for officers to take hold of suspects in order to de-escalate potentially dangerous scenarios.
Simon Mallett, on behalf of the Appropriate Authority, asked Mr Fitzpatrick about the punch that PC Szilvasi is alleged to have delivered after the complainant began resisting arrest. Mr Fitzpatrick replied: "In my view, when he hit out, there were more appropriate options to subdue the threat. That was excessive by punching when there were lower levels of force that could have been attempted."
Mr Fitzpatrick said the alleged punch was "exasperated" by PC Szilvasi having handcuffs in his hand, and said delivering a punch to the head could have possibly resulted in concussion or other serious injuries. He said that "other tactical options" could have been considered: "There were a number of options available which could have be considered prior to the punch", he said.
Mr Fitzpatrick told the hearing that the officer could have used his police baton, or hit the man in another area of his body, such as his leg or abdomen, in order to subdue him with less chance of causing serious injury. The hearing was previously told that PC Szilvasi and another officer had responded to a 999 call to a Newcastle home on April 17, 2020. When the officers attended the suspected domestic violence call out, they were confronted with an "aggressive" man who later began dishing out homophobic and racist abuse.
The hearing was told that there was a "violence marker" on the man who was arrested and that the call was considered "high grade". Another expert, Ken Carvalho, also gave evidence at the hearing and said the way PC Szilvasi was speaking to the man was "measured" and that the officer was "not getting over excited".
Speaking of the alleged punch, he added: "It appears to be a very short range punch, it happened very, very fast. It clearly didn't have a big impact. [Both officers] were trying to handcuff him as professionally as they could."
In a prepared statement, PC Szilvasi said the man was being "hostile" with the officers and made threats to spit at them. He said the man then "swung" towards him, causing the officer to strike him twice in self-defence in order to "control the situation and minimize the risk of harm".
The hearing continues.
Join our WhatsApp communities
ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities.
We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all!
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community
Join our Christmas and New Year in the North East community
Join our I'm A Celebrity community for all the latest updates from the jungle
Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community
Join our Northumberland community
