Police officer fined for grabbing woman on wrong bus ticket, avoiding arrest

A Metropolitan Police officer who “groped” and wrongly arrested a woman for bus ticket evasion in front of her distraught young son has been fined £1,500.

Pc Perry Lathwood grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang’s arm, causing bruising.

A crowd gathered, people filming the officer and asking him why he arrested her, and a video of Ms Agyemang becoming increasingly agitated went viral.

Ms Agyemang said in a victim impact statement that the incident was “deeply humiliating and embarrassing” and that Lathwood had “a look of contempt”.

She said the event had a “devastating effect” on her and her young son, who have now lost faith in the police service.

The incident happened on July 21 last year on Whitehorse Road in Croydon, south London, as Mrs Agyemang was dropping her son off at her mother’s house before going on a date.

Police officers were assisting ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon and a bus inspector asked him to show if he had paid for his ticket.

Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, told the trial that Lathwood, 50, put his hand on the woman but she pulled away so he grabbed her arm and arrested her for escape .

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Deputy District Judge 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.”

After Ms Agyemang was arrested, it was confirmed that she had paid her fare and was towed away on the spot.

She told the court she felt “violated” by the incident and added: “I just felt a bit degraded because I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The judge said he did not think it was an “abuse of power” but a “mistake”.

The court heard that Lathwood does not accept the conviction and will appeal against it.

As well as the fine, he was ordered to pay the victim £200 compensation, £650 costs and a £600 victim surcharge.

Ms Agyemang said in her personal statement: “His comment that I was a ‘mad cow’ was particularly degrading and I believe he intended it to be degrading.”

“I have lost all faith in the police service,” she added.

The mother also said her son was scared during the incident and “now he doesn’t trust the police”.

In Lathwood’s defence, the court was told “no harm was intended (and) he was trying to do his job”.

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

He continued: “We will learn our lessons from this and 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.

“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.”