Lincolnshire Police officer 'would have been handed a final written warning' had he been serving
A misconduct panel held a hearing for former PC Alan Kirkwood on May 19 and 20
A Lincolnshire Police misconduct panel has ruled a former officer would have been handed a final written warning had he still been serving.
A misconduct hearing was held on Tuesday 19 May and Wednesday 20 May for former PC Alan Kirkwood, who was based at Lincoln Police Station.
It was found that on 3 January 2023, the officer breached standards of professional behaviour when they used force which was not reasonable, necessary or proportionate in all the circumstances.
The former officer was responding to a report of a street robbery and attempting to detain two males who had made off from him. During the incident the former officer mistook a member of the public for a suspect and after instructing him to lay on the floor in order to be detained, he kicked him causing an injury. The officer used inappropriate and disrespectful language. As a result of the assault, the member of the public sustained an injury.
The Independent Panel found the breaches proven and that the breach relating to use of force amounted to gross misconduct. The breach relating to authority, respect and courtesy in respect of the language used amounted to misconduct.
The panel found that, in all the circumstances, had the officer been a serving officer a final written warning would have been the appropriate sanction.