‘You have smashed me in the face’

A Northumbria Police[1] officer who punched a man twice in the face while arresting him has been handed a final written warning. PC Ferenc Szilvasi and his colleague were arresting a man in Newcastle[2] on suspicion of stalking. A misconduct hearing heard how the hostile man was resisting arrest and making verbal threats.

They included threatening to “spit all over” the 37-year-old officer and bite his nose off. A misconduct hearing, which was held at the police station in Houghton-le-Spring[3], heard how PC Szilvasi punched the man twice to the face while he was holding open handcuffs. During the arrest, the man sustained injuries which included a cut to his face and lump on the top of his nose.

A panel heard how the two officers were called to an address on April 17, 2020 following a silent 999 call and they asked the man to leave. The pair then attempted to arrest him on suspicion of stalking. However the man was resisting arrest, telling them “There’s no reason to arrest me, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The hearing heard how PC Szilvasi, who has worked for the force since August 2017, punched the man twice to the face. The suspect told him “You have smashed me in the face” to which the officer replied “Yes”. The man was arrested following a struggle on the ground.

The hearing heard how, at one point, the man told PC Szilvasi “I hate you” and the officer responded: “I hate you”. The officer said he punched the man twice in self defence, as a distraction to allow him to be brought to the ground and to protect him and his colleague from being hurt. He said: “I gave him two jabs to the face.

I believe I used a small amount of force. “I did not see the cuffs were open at the time. I wanted to stop an assault on my and my colleague.

He did not give his hand up to be cuffed. It took two officers to cuff him and it wasn’t easy.” PC Szilvasi said he had to punch him in the face to stop him hurting him or his colleague as he believed he could have assaulted them.

He said: “At that moment I felt in danger and that my colleague was in danger. I did my best to stop us being hurt. “I made the decision to help myself and my colleague and I stand by that decision.

There’s only so many options you can consider in a split second. I was about to make the arrest and put the cuffs on him.” PC Szilvasi said he accepted calling the man a “joke” but said in the circumstances it was “acceptable”.

The panel heard how the stalking allegation against the man was not substandard and he was released. The officer was accused of applying force to the male, by punching him twice in the face whilst holding open handcuffs, which was not necessary, proportionate or reasonable in the circumstances, during the course of his arrest. It was alleged that his conduct breached the standards of professional behaviour for use of force and amounted to gross misconduct.

The panel found that the use of force was justified but that it was not acceptable to have struck him with handcuffs in his hand. However they said he was not intending to use them as a weapon. They said punching the man to the face twice was not necessary, proportionate or reasonable and he could have punched the man to the shoulder rather than the face.

The panel said that PC Szilvasi calling the man “a joke” and saying he “hated him” was unprofessional. Chair Katherine Wood said: “We accept it was a fast moving, violent and frightening incident. “We acknowledge it was not an easy situation to deal with.

There’s no suggestion that PC Szilvasi lost control, acted in a fit of rage of deliberately targeted (the man).” Ms Wood told the hearing that it was not an incident in which dismissal would be justified and the panel found his actions to be misconduct but not gross misconduct. Simon Mallett, for the appropriate authority, said: “Public confidence will be undoubtedly undermined that an officer, trusted to use force responsibly, doesn’t use force responsibly.”

PC Szilvasi’s barrister Kevin Baumber said the finding of misconduct was enough and no further outcome was needed. He told the panel: “This was, as you recognised, a split second decision. It’s still misconduct, that’s a high bar of seriousness.”

The panel considered the final outcome for 15 minutes before returning to the hearing on Thursday afternoon. Ms Wood said that the use of force is a local and national concern and has a significant impact on policing. She told PC Szilvasi that he had used a potentially more harmful course of action than was available to him.

She said that he punched the man in the face twice, although he did not plan to do so, and did not follow his training.

She told him: “You should be subject to a final written warning for a period of three years.

This is a serious matter and it needs to be marked accordingly.”

References

1. ^ Northumbria Police (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
2. ^ Newcastle (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
3. ^ Houghton-le-Spring (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)