PC was found guilty of assaulting a woman over the illegal seizure of her bus ticket

Metropolitan police officer Perry Lathwood has been found guilty of assault after wrongfully arresting a woman for evading a bus ticket.

The officer “manhandled” Jocelyn Agyemang in Croydon in front of her young son last July, according to the lawsuit.

During his arrest, Lathwood, of Norman’s Bay, East Sussex, called Ms Agyemang a “mad cow”.

Ms Agyemang told the court she felt “very violated” and was left with wrist pain and a bruised shoulder.

Deputy Chief District Judge Tan Ikram of Westminster Magistrates’ Court said it was “not necessary to grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her”.

“There were no reasonable grounds to suggest that an arrest would be necessary,” the judge added.

“The officer made an error in judgment and overreacted.”

During the trial, Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, said Ms Agyemang was dropping her son off at his mother’s home on July 21 last year before going to a meeting in Marylebone scheduled for 12.30pm BST.

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.

“She doesn’t hand it in and walk away,” Mr Jarvis told the court.

“At this point PC Lathwood is getting involved.”

He said Lathwood put a hand on her, but she moved away, so he then grabbed her arm and arrested her for evading.

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

In footage played in court, Ms Agyemang was heard asking the officer: “Can you get off me please? can you take my arm off

“You don’t understand, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mr Jarvis said Lathwood continued to hold her, demanding to touch her Oyster card. He handcuffed her too.

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

She was withdrawn at the scene after the force confirmed that Ms Agyemang had paid her fare.

Ms Agyemang also said she felt “a bit degraded” by the incident, which she said was “very scary”.

“I just remember the strong grip,” she said.

“When someone holds me, especially when I feel like I haven’t done anything wrong, it’s very scary for me.”

When asked why she left, Ms Agyemang said: “At the time, I was only thinking of getting to my mother’s house.”

She was also asked why she “resisted” the police when she was pulled over.

“Honestly, I can’t see myself holding out,” she said.

Matt Twist, the Met’s deputy commissioner, said the conviction was “a major setback for our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners”.

“We apologize to the woman and the wider community who have been 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 conviction, we will continue to support the officer.”

The force said it would consider a misconduct hearing after Lathwood, who was on restricted duties, decided whether to appeal his conviction.

Deputy Commissioner Twist added: “We will work to fully understand the court’s decision and its implications for policing.

“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, tackling violent crime.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out the investigation into the officer’s conduct during the arrest.

Mel Palmer, regional director of the IOPC, said following the verdict: “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 footage of the incident was published online.”

She added that the decision to report the incident to prosecutors was not something they took lightly.

Lathwood will be sentenced on June 14 at the same court.