A Met Police officer who allegedly hit a Wetherspoons drinker over the head with his baton in an ‘unprovoked’ attack claims the display of force was ‘entirely proportionate. ‘
Pc Jack Wood, 26, denies assaulting Jake Smith, 26, who suffered a gaping gash to his skull following the clash on January 5, last year in Romford, Essex.
Pc Wood and colleague Pc Archie Payne, 26, are further accused of striking Mr Smith’s friend Scott Rooney, 26, who alleges he was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground.
Pc Jack Wood, 26, (left) denies assaulting Jake Smith, 26, who was left with a gaping gash to his skull following the bust-up in Romford, Essex. He and colleague Pc Archie Payne, 26, (right) are also accused of assaulting Mr Smith’s friend, Scott Rooney, 26, who claims he was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground
City of London Magistrates’ Court was shown CCTV footage of the alleged incident
PC Payne and PC Wood deny all charges in connection with the incident from January 2020
PC Wood insisted he had no alternative but to draw his baton and said he was aiming for Mr Smith’s shoulder when he hit him on the head.
Mr Rooney, a railway engineer, claims he was the victim of an unprovoked attack after trying to take a picture of Pc Wood and his officer number.
CCTV footage shown to the court captured the moment one Met Police officer strikes Mr Smith to the head and a second grabs Mr Rooney’s throat, pushes him to the wall and lies on top of him.
Mr Smith suffered two wounds to his head, 1.5cm and 1cm in length, as well as 6cm of bruising to his chest wall, the court heard.
Defending Pc Wood, Robert Morris argued Mr Smith and his friend were binge drinking for ten hours and then ‘rugby tackled’ other punters outside the pub.
He told District Judge Nina Tempia there was ‘no case to answer’ and claimed the officer had only acted as legally permitted to stop the incident.
Mr Morris said: ‘By the time that Pc Payne and Pc Wood were running towards the group, Mr Smith was on his feet and was aggressively moving towards the group.
‘Not on his back, unable to defend himself.
Mr Rooney, a railway engineer, alleges he was the victim of an unprovoked onslaught after trying to take a picture of Pc Wood and his officer number
‘His actions were plainly to rugby tackle an individual who was at some distance.
‘Not content with that, Mr Smith throws himself against a woman who was not involved in either group and who seems to have wandered into the mellee and she is then knocked to the floor.
‘What is plain, is that any reasonable person entering that situation would have reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Smith has committed offences of assault and affray.’
Mr Morris said Pc Wood did not run into the fracas with the baton in hand, instead he took a measured approach and acted proportionately.
He said: ‘If he were simply to sit back and do nothing, he would be criticised.
‘In my submission, Mr Wood entered the affray properly, used force that he was permitted to use and the struggling only stopped when the baton was used.
Scott Rooney being pinned to the ground by officers following a bust-up in Romford, Essex
‘It’s just not true that the first thing that happened is that Mr Wood struck Mr Smith with a baton.’
Both officers sat in the dock of City of London Magistrates’ Court today in a navy blue suit as their trial, which earlier ran over its two-day time slot, resumed today.
Prosecutor Nicola Shannon has told the court there had been an argument between Mr Rooney and another customer, prompting two security guards to ask them to leave.
She said they stayed for one more drink but, upon leaving, realised the man they had clashed with was lurking outside with a number of others.
The group was between the pub and the bus stop that Mr Rooney, who lived locally, needed to get to.
So the pair asked Pc Wood and Pc Payne, who were outside the pub on patrol, to escort them to the bus stop past the group, the court heard.
Ms Shannon continued: ‘The officers declined to do so, telling the group if he was their friend it’s not their responsibility to help, and returned to their patrol duties.
‘Mr Rooney was attacked by the group… but shortly after that Pc Wood ran into the scene, came behind Mr Smith raised his baton and inflicted between three to four strikes.’
Jack Smith, 26, was hit over the head with a baton outside a pub in Romford last year
The prosecutor said while Mr Smith had his back towards the officer ‘Pc Wood appears to go from right to left with the baton held above his head in an overarm motion brings it down towards Mr Smith.’
Pc Payne is seen on the footage making a ‘kicking motion’ at Mr Smith while he was on the ground.
‘The plan was for Mr Smith to take a taxi home with the girls and Mr Rooney, who lived locally, to take the bus.
‘Between that group and the bus stop were those causing trouble inside earlier.’
While PC Payne and a colleague had their body-worn cameras activated, ‘PC Wood did not activate his until later,’ said the prosecutor.
After Mr Smith was treated in an ambulance the officers returned to arrest him for affray, but the charge was later discontinued, the court heard.
District Judge Tempia said she would not accept that ‘there was no case to answer’ and ruled she would have to hear evidence from the two officers.
Following the alleged assault on his friend, Mr Rooney asked to take a photo of Pc Wood’s shoulder number.
Mr Rooney then went to lift the lapel as the shoulder number was not visible, but Pc Payne told him not to touch Pc Wood, the court heard.
Body worn footage showed the drinker moving back and saying ‘that’s a bit overkill’ after which Pc Payne replied ‘I’ll tell you what, we’re going to deal with you’.
Prosecutors claim the railway engineer was thrown to the floor by Pc Payne because he did not want his colleague to be challenged about striking Mr Smith’s head with a baton.
Pc Payne, who retired in November and now works as a train driver, claims Mr Rooney ‘tensed up’ as if to swing a punch with his other hand after he seized hold of his hand in an attempt to handcuff him.
The ex officer said: “The tensing of the arm is to generate power from the other arm.
‘I thought I was going to be assaulted.’
He said he intended to ‘take him to the wall and place him into handcuffs’ but lost control after Mr Rooney managed to wriggle his way out of the grip and put him in a headlock.
Nicholas Yeo, defending the ex officer asked: ‘We see you then end up on the ground, was that your intention at that stage?’
He replied: ‘No, that wasn’t my intention. As I take hold of him to try and put the handcuff on he moves away.
‘He then manages to release his arm and then that’s how it ends up around my neck.
‘I remember him putting pressure back against me and we have both gone down to the floor.’
He said Mr Rooney was acting ‘aggressively’ following the group bust-up outside the pub and had a ‘reasonable premise’ to arrest Mr Rooney before he flipped Pc Wood’s lapel.
He added: ‘We had to try and diffuse the situation and separate the parties.
‘I could hear Rooney shouting “who hit my mate, I want your number.”
The ex officer said Mr Rooney was screaming, swearing and ‘unzipped his jacket aggressively.’
He said: ‘It was clear that he was intoxicated and wasn’t going to listen to any reasoning I was going to do with him.
‘At that point I believed we had enough that he was acting drunk and disorderly in the street.’
PC Wood, based at Romford Police Station, denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mr Scott and one count of assault by beating against Mr Rooney.
PC Payne, also based at Romford Police Station, denies one count of common assault against Mr Rooney.
The trial continues.