A METROPOLITAN police officer has been dismissed from service after he headbutted and punched an Irish barman in a terrifying assault.
PC Gareth Knight, 38 and formally attached to Lambeth Borough, was dismissed without notice from duty following a misconduct hearing held on May 12.
Knight was previously found guilty of actual bodily harm and common assault and sentenced for three months on both counts to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months.
He was also given a £1,000 fine and 150 hours unpaid community work after a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on February 2 this year.
On January 30, 2016 on Atlantic Road in Brixton, Knight was working in plain clothes to combat the sale of illegal drugs.
Shorty before 1.30am, Knight detained and arrested Irish barman William Kelly, who has Bell's palsy, on suspicion of the possession of drugs.
During the arrest, which was observed and recorded by an operator from Lambeth Council's CCTV department, Knight headbutted and punched Mr Kelly without provocation.
Mr Kelly did not resist arrest, nor did he retaliate against Knight.
During the hearing in February this year, Mr Kelly told the court that he was so surprised by Knight’s demeanour that at first he thought he was being assaulted rather than arrested as members of the public looked on.
Mr Kelly, who thought he had fractured his skull, told the court he did not know if he was dealing with an “undercover officer or a nutter”.
“It was a very intense and terrifying look in his eyes – the whole thing didn’t add up to me. I was in two minds about it. I did think am I just sleepwalking into being assaulted?”
Mr Kelly said he was anxious because he knew resisting arrest was a much more serious offence than possession of cannabis, but Knight at first refused to show him any ID.
Following the arrival of a fellow officer, Knight produced his ID, held it close to Mr Kelly’s face and said, “there’s my f*****g ID”.
Judge Antoni Muller told Knight at his sentencing that he had brought shame on fellow officers and on the job.
He also said it was an unprovoked, ‘sustained and repeated’ assault in front of members of the public who were so appalled they tried to intervene.
“With no provocation at all you threw that headbutt, started the process of punching his arms, dragging him to the floor, pulling him back up repeatedly, pushing his head towards that wall until you eventually injured him.
“Mr Kelly was shouting, ‘you thug’ and members of the public were so concerned about what you were doing and you just shoved them out of the way.
“Nobody watching that scene would say how proud they were in their police force.”
Judge Muller continued: “You have brought shame on yourself, shame on your fellow officers and shame on the job.”
Knight was consequently suspended from duty during the internal misconduct investigation by the Met, but following the Chair's decision, he has now been dismissed without notice.
Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan, said: "The public rightly expects a high standard of their police officers and the MPS expects our employees to always act with professionalism and integrity whether on or off duty.
"This is in order to maintain the trust and the confidence of the public. PC Knight has broken this trust and brought discredit to the service through his conviction.
"His continued service with the MPS has been made untenable."
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