Officer guilty of Croydon bus fare attack ‘huge setback’ for Met as it tries to ‘rebuild trust’

A Metropolitan police officer convicted of assaulting a woman wrongly accused of bus ticket evasion is a “huge setback” for the force, the deputy commissioner has said.

PC Perry Lathwood, 50, was on duty helping ticket inspectors in Croydon when Jocelyn Agyemang and her son got off a bus.

She told a court she was wrongly accused of fare evasion and then “manhandled” by the officer who handcuffed her.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Lathwood was found guilty of assault in the incident on July 21 last year in Whitehorse Road, Croydon.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the verdict “is a huge setback for our ability to rebuild trust with Londoners”.

He added that the force “will learn lessons from this” and “we apologize to the woman and the wider community who have been deeply affected”.

Deputy Chief District Judge Tan Ikram said it was “unnecessary to grab the woman’s arm, arrest her and handcuff her.

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

He added: “The officer made an error of judgment and overreacted.”

Ms Agyemang, who was dropping her son off at her mother’s home before heading to a meeting in Marylebone, suffered a bruised arm in the incident.

He was asked to show he had paid for his ticket by a bus inspector, failed to hand in a ticket and simply left, the court heard.

“At this point PC Lathwood is involved,” said prosecutor Paul Jarvis.

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

In footage of the incident filmed by bystanders, Ms Agyemang can be heard asking the officer: “Can you get off me please? can you get off my arm

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

Lathwood, who at one point called her a “mad cow”, continued to hold her, demanding she swipe her card. He also handcuffed her.

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.

“I felt very violated,” she told the court.

“I felt like they didn’t care. I felt a little degraded because I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

In his evidence, Lathwood said he felt he had no choice but to arrest Ms Agyemang.

“Because of her actions and her refusal to show that card to other people who continually asked her to do so,” he said, explaining his action.

He was asked why she didn’t tell him why she was arrested.

“If the card had come back unpaid, we would have progressed and explained everything to him if he would have let us,” he said.

Lathwood also claimed he was an “unknown threat”, to her and to him.

The officer, who is from the Metropolitan Police’s Road Policing Command, denied it but was convicted of one count of assault by beating.

He is to be sentenced on June 14.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “This verdict is a huge 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.”

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “Today a judge found that PC Lathwood’s use of force against the woman after her arrest, including handcuffing and holding her arm, was unlawful and he was convicted of assault.

“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.”

Following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings, the IOPC said it would liaise with the force to “progress disciplinary proceedings for the officer”.