Met officer fined for assaulting woman wrongfully detained over bus ticket | UK news

A Metropolitan Police officer has been fined £1,500 after he manhandled and wrongly arrested a woman for failing to pay her bus ticket.

PC Perry Lathwood, 50, was convicted of assault by beating after grabbing Jocelyn Agyemang’s arm, causing bruising in Croydon, south London.

Footage of the incident around 11am on July 21 last year was widely shared on social media.

It showed Ms Agyemang being restrained by Lathwood, of the Met’s Traffic Police Command, as her seven-year-old son cried hysterically.

In a personal victim impact statement read at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Mrs Agyemang said the incident was “deeply humiliating and embarrassing” and had a “devastating effect” on her and her son.

She described Lathwood as having “a look of contempt in his eyes” and said he called her a “mad cow”.

At the time the police officer was assisting ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon as Mrs Agyemang got off the bus with her son.

An inspector asked if he had paid his fare, so he handed them his Oyster card. That’s when Lathwood got involved.

Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, said: “He (Lathwood) grabs her, she moves away from him but then he grabs her arm again and arrests her for fare evasion.”

“In fact, she paid her fare, the card was subsequently examined – she paid for that journey, but she was arrested.

“Her child was getting upset because his mother was getting angry.

“PC Lathwood continues to hold her and repeatedly asks her to touch her card, to present the card she is holding to the ticket inspector.

“It is confirmed that she did in fact pay for her journey, as a result PC Lathwood de-arrested her, removed her handcuffs and effectively allowed her to travel with her son.”

Lathwood, of Normans Bay, East Sussex, denied assault by beating and plans to appeal his conviction.

He claimed he was trying to stop the mother and child from being hit.

“She’s heading down the road, she had to be contained for her safety, her children’s safety and our safety,” Lathwood said.

— If I hadn’t moved her to the back, she would have been splashed.

Giving evidence, Miss Agyemang said the officer’s actions left her feeling “very, very violated”.

“I just remember this officer just grabbing me and my arm out of nowhere.

“It was a really, really hard squeeze – my arm was literally hurting and I think I expressed that to him as well.

“I just wanted him to get off me because he’s quite strong and it made me feel really worried that he was holding on to me and I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, especially as I had my Oyster card in my hand. ‘

She said Lathwood called her a “mad cow” as he freed her from his grip.

“I think he tried to accuse me of running off the road and called me a mad cow.”

District Judge Tan Ikram earlier said Lathwood’s account of what happened “lacks credibility”.

He told the officer: “I recognize the challenges in policing and that officers have to make real-time decisions on the street.

“Sometimes they get it wrong, in my opinion, on this occasion the officer got it wrong. Not in bad faith.

“However, this had an impact on the victim and her seven-year-old son who watched.

“She described the impact on her seven-year-old son’s mental health and distress.”

Judge Ikram said he did not believe Lathwood’s actions were an abuse of power.

“It was a mistake by a police officer in the heat of the moment.”

He continued: “In terms of mitigating features, the defendant has no previous convictions or cautions, indeed we heard about his previous good character read out at trial.

“I remember that when dealing with a police officer, a sentence has a profound impact.

“I am satisfied that the matter can be resolved by fine.”

As well as the £1,500 fine, Lathwood was ordered to pay £200 compensation and a further £650 in costs, as well as a £600 victim surcharge.

In total, he must pay £2,950 over 56 days.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: ‘Neighbor from hell’ wore Spider-Man mask to terrify elderly homeowners

MORE: Map reveals Red Arrow crossing route and times for Trooping the Color

MORE: Spit out of land that was fenced off and no one knows why

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.