I met a police officer who manhandled and wrongly arrested a woman on the bus, found guilty

A Metropolitan Police officer who manhandled and wrongly arrested a woman for bus fare evasion has been convicted of assault.

PC Perry Lathwood, 50, of Norman’s Bay, East Sussex, grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm, causing bruising during the arrest on July 21 last year in Whitehorse Road in Croydon.

She was dropping her son off at her mother’s before heading to a meeting in Marylebone scheduled for 12.30pm.

At the time, police officers were assisting ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon.

After she and her son got off the bus at around 11am, she was asked to show that she had paid for her ticket by a bus inspector.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Deputy Chief Justice Tan Ikram ruled that it was “not necessary” for Lathwood to “grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her”.

He continued: “It was difficult … but there were no reasonable grounds to suggest that an arrest would be necessary.

“The officer made an error of judgment and overreacted. The handcuffing further inflamed the situation.

“I find you guilty of assault.”

Lathwood, who was wearing a blue checkered suit, did not react when the judge delivered his verdict.

Mr Ikram said Lathwood’s claims that he acted to protect Ms Agyemang’s child were “fantasy” and he “simply did not believe him”.

“The officer’s evidence lacked all credibility,” he added.

Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, told the trial that Lathwood put a hand on the woman but she moved away, so he then grabbed her arm and arrested her for escape.

A crowd gathered, people filming the officer and asking him why he arrested her.

Mr Jarvis said Lathwood continued to hold her, demanding she swipe her card. He handcuffed her too.

Another officer took his Oyster card from his hand and went with him to see if he had paid.

It was confirmed that Ms Agyemang paid her fare and was detained at the scene.

“There was no need for an arrest,” he said.

Ms Agyemang said she felt “very violated” by the incident.

“I felt like they didn’t care,” she said. “I felt a bit degraded because I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regional director Mel Palmer said: “Any use of force by officers should be reasonable, proportionate and justified in the circumstances.

“This was a high-profile incident which caused significant concern, particularly in the Croydon community, after images of the incident were published online.

“We have conducted an independent and impartial investigation to establish the facts surrounding this incident, including the actions of the police officers involved.

“The decision to refer a file of evidence to the CPS to consider criminal charges is not something we take lightly and it was made after careful consideration of the evidence, including liaising with the CPS.”

The police watchdog said it would liaise with the force to progress disciplinary proceedings for the officer.

Lathwood, who is attached to the Metropolitan Police’s Traffic Command, will be sentenced at the same court on June 14.

Deputy Commissioner Matt Twist said: “This verdict is a major setback for our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners. We will learn the lessons from this and apologize to the woman and the community at large who were deeply affected.

“Anyone who has seen the footage of this incident will be upset at how it escalated into a traumatic situation for a mother and her child.

“Despite today’s sentencing, we will continue to support the officer and support our workforce to ensure officers are confident to act decisively and make arrests when they believe they have the power to do so.

“When an officer is convicted of a crime, his conviction will often be considered at an expedited misconduct hearing as soon as possible after the proceedings have concluded.

“In this case, we will wait to hear whether PC Lathwood will appeal the conviction and will work to fully understand the court’s decision and its implications for the police. We do not intend to consider an expedited misconduct hearing in this case.

“The nature of this type of fare evasion operation unnecessarily places officers in potentially challenging interactions with the public.

“Since this incident happened, we have ceased our involvement in supporting Transport for London’s fare evasion operations, but we continue our presence on the bus network to tackle violent crime.

“The Met will continue to work with communities, transform our culture and improve the way we engage with all Londoners – by embedding our values ​​of empathy, integrity, respect, courage and responsibility across the organisation.”