Bristol cop who used ‘grossly disproportionate’ force arresting woman keeps job

A police officer who used “grossly disproportionate” force by throwing a vulnerable drunken woman to the ground during an arrest in Bristol city centre has been allowed to keep his job. PC Ashley Tucker was given a final written warning which will stay on his file for five years after a tribunal panel ruled he committed gross misconduct during the incident at The Centre in the early hours of April 16, 2023.

The officer claimed during a four-day misconduct hearing that he took action because she had kicked a council bin several times, shouted aggressively as if looking for a fight and he feared the female, Miss A, was a threat to him and other members of the public. But delivering the panel’s decision at Avon & Somerset Constabulary headquarters in Portishead on Thursday, February 27, Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) Adrian Phillips said: “When PC Tucker approached Miss A there was a significant distance between her and anyone else.

“Miss A wasn’t posing a risk to anyone else and this would have been apparent to PC Tucker. The panel concluded PC Tucker had already decided to perform a take-down manoeuvre.

“There was no reason for PC Tucker to protect himself or others. PC Tucker’s actions were unnecessary, disproportionate and unreasonable.”

He said the force used was “grossly disproportionate”. Mr Phillips said the panel concluded that the woman’s head made contact with the pavement and that the officer, who denied breaching standards of professional behaviour and gross misconduct, may have caused her a physical injury, although it could not determine if the bruising she suffered was from an earlier fall while intoxicated.

He said PC Tucker, 33, dragged her on the ground while handcuffed behind her back, which was unnecessary. Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, said: “It’s more by luck than judgement that what the officer did didn’t result in a serious injury.

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“It could have been an extremely serious injury. We have a case of grossly disproportionate force being used that was not necessary.

“It is violence against a vulnerable person. She was very drunk. She was less able to break her fall or react quickly.

“Members of the public saw what happened – we can hear [on the footage] they were distinctly unimpressed, to put it mildly. It undermines confidence in the police service.

“It leads people to believe the police are heavy-handed, which is extremely damaging.” He said the panel found there was no reason why PC Tucker could not have tried talking to the woman instead.

Mr Ley-Morgan said: “He had already decided to take her down. That is a significant deviation from his use-of-force training.

“The officer still cannot see what he did was seriously wrong. He has used grossly disproportionate force on a heavily intoxicated member of the public who was no threat and could have caused serious harm to her.

“No force at all was needed to effect that arrest. The force used was gratuitous.

“The only possible outcome is dismissal without notice.” Barrister Julian King, representing PC Tucker, said: “The most appropriate outcome is a final written warning towards the higher end of the bracket [up to five years].

“It was starkly different from his regular behaviour. He didn’t set out to target a female, he didn’t start his shift saying ‘I’m going to give someone a pasting’.

“This was a difficult and challenging environment and this was an absolutely isolated example of him falling below high standards. This was not a premeditated incident, this was a poor decision in an isolated way.

“It was a bad misjudgement rather than setting out to deliberately cause someone discomfort or injury.” Mr King read out several character references, including the officer’s supervising sergeant who said he was an “integral part of the team” and his former supervisor who said he was “hardworking and diligent”.

The panel agreed that his actions were not premeditated and that he did not intend to cause injury. Mr Phillips said a final written warning was sufficient in this case.

PC Tucker told the panel: “I’ve worked extremely hard to attain what I have in the police. It was not a reflection of my character.”

The hearing was told that PC Tucker ran up behind the woman and threw her to the concrete pavement near an oncoming bus. Shocked members of the public complained at the scene about the constable’s treatment of the woman shortly before 2am on a Saturday night.

PC Tucker told the panel that in hindsight he could have handled the situation better but that he still believed he acted lawfully and with a policing purpose. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage to the bin and being drunk and disorderly and taken to custody by other officers but released without charge the following day.

The case followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after a referral from the force. IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: “Police officers are entitled to use force.

“However, it must be reasonable and proportionate to the circumstances faced. The evidence clearly showed that PC Tucker’s use of force was excessive and his actions were unacceptable.

“He demonstrated a lack of respect for the woman who was in a vulnerable situation. It’s this kind of behaviour which can damage the public’s trust and confidence in police officers.”

The IOPC also interviewed PC Tucker under criminal caution for the possible offence of common assault and submitted a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service which decided not to bring any criminal charge. The misconduct panel did not find allegations proven that the Bristol-based constable’s actions amounted to sex discrimination by breaching professional standards relating to equality and diversity, despite having dealt with two men in the early stages of a fight earlier that evening very differently by simply separating them and ordering them to leave the area.