The moment a police inspector confronted a teenager and dragged him through a car park to the station was captured on CCTV and presented in court at his assault trial.
Dean Gittoes mistakenly arrested the teen, who cannot be identified because he is only 16, on suspicion of being a ‘terrorist’ for using his phone to videotape his police station.
The 49-year-old Oak Tree Rise man, Merthyr Tydfil, ‘lost all rational thought’ when he ‘illegally’ detained the boy on 20 August 2021.
He was found guilty at Cwmbran Magistrates Court, Gwent, for assault after a combination of CCTV and phone footage of the boy was presented as evidence.
The court heard that Gittoes was ‘fed up with internet freaks’ and ‘misused the Terrorism Act’ to justify the arrest of the teenager, who identified himself as an ‘auditor’ when approached by him.
The term audit refers to a global online community of people who record and upload video of government buildings, such as police stations.
Prosecutor Jason Howells called the arrest “unlawful,” arguing that Gittoes, who was off duty at the time and did not properly declare himself an officer, did not honestly believe the young man was committing a terrorism crime.
Instead, they asserted, Gittoes allowed his judgment to be ‘clouded’ by his dislike of the auditors and his continued frustration with his bosses over how a similar incident had been handled.
“The officer had acted like this because he had had a bad weekend and was upset about what had happened weeks before, saying that he was fed up with these Internet fanatics filming and putting things on the Internet.”
The boy accused Gittoes of “being aggressive and, at one point, choking him.”
Christopher Rees, defending himself, said the veteran officer genuinely believed the boy was involved in a hostile reconnaissance of the building and that any video he posted on the Internet could have helped the terrorists.
Footage played at Gwent Magistrates Court showed Gittoes in a Swansea City club shirt and black shorts confronting the teenager seconds before grabbing his phone, putting him in an armbar and taking him to the custody suite.
The youngster cried in pain and said ‘it’s suffocating me’, while Gittoes told him to ‘stop fighting’ and added: ‘You’re a savvy little internet fan who’s about to learn the hard way.’
In sentencing Gittoes, District Judge Sophie Toms called the incident a “continuous unlawful assault on a vulnerable 16-year-old boy.”
Justice Toms said: “What is absolutely evident is that he was frustrated that nothing was done to stop the filming from the police station, that senior officers did not take him seriously and did not support him.”
“Their opinion of it was that it was a dangerous situation as the videos could be used by terrorists, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that.”
She said the boy’s phone was still recording from Gittoes’ pocket when she told her colleague that he had “dealt with someone like that” six weeks earlier.
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But Judge Toms said any reasonable officer “in possession of the same facts” would not have assumed the boy was a suspected terrorist or a threat to anyone.
“This was just a 16 year old shoot for his YouTube channel and it was not a threat to you or anyone else,” he said.
“But you were so irritated by your bosses’ lack of action that you lost all rational thought.”
You were clearly agitated and it didn’t take you more than 30 seconds to get your hands on him.
‘It was an instant decision, and it was clear that you couldn’t control yourself or your actions. Significant unnecessary force was then used against this child when he offered no resistance.
He grabbed his arm, used force against him, took him to the station, twisted his wrist, made him fall to the ground, pushed him against the wall, grabbed him by the back of his hoodie and prevented him from breathing properly. .
“He was screaming in pain throughout the entire incident. This was a continuous unlawful assault on a vulnerable 16-year-old boy.”
The court heard that Gittoes had not identified himself as a police officer, fully explained to the young man the reasons why he was being detained, or reprimanded him.
The inspector also left the station before completing a statement and had to be called by senior colleagues to make one.
Despite this, Gittoes maintained throughout the trial that he was adamant in his handling of the situation. He said he used the ‘straight arm bar technique’ to restrain the teen.
CCTV showing Gittoes holding the 16-year-old’s arm, taking him to the police station and then arresting him was also taken to court.
The court heard guidance issued by South Wales Police and seen by Gittoes after similar incidents across the force, advising officers that members of the public have a general right to film government buildings on public property and that doing so it does not constitute a terrorist offence.
He also said that if a person identifies himself as an auditor, ignore him.
However, Gittoes told the court: “I felt we shouldn’t ignore people on the basis that they call themselves auditors if there is a clear threat there.”
Judge Toms granted bail and adjourned sentencing until October 27 after a three-day hearing before Cwmbran magistrates.
Gittoes will face a disciplinary hearing and he is expected to be fired after his conviction.
Source: https://wikisoon.com/
