Martin James claims police wrenched his arms behind his back while arresting him after he called a newspaper to take a photo of a police van blocking the sidewalk near his home. He called the paper to complain about the way the van was parked by an officer who is a neighbor.
He told magistrates in Llanelli that during the photo-shoot on 19 May an off-duty officer approached him and shouted: "Get off my road, get off my land".
He claimed the row escalated and police wrenched his arm behind him, as they restrained him.
"I was screaming in pain," he said.
"They treated me worse than an animal - they just threw me into the police van onto the floor."
At Carmarthen police station, he claims he was "brutally manhandled" by officers.via news.bbc.co.uk
Officers denied the mistreatment and claim that James was out of control, shouting abuse. They also deny that they threw him in a van. The above photo, taken at the scene, shows officers pulling James' arms behind him. A court ruling is pending.
2 comments:
That facial expression shows pain, not protest. Ironic that someone seeking help is refused it.
No one in a wheelchair should be handcuffed with hands behind the chair. Even an able bodied person without range of motion issues would have pain from that. It's too unnatural a position.
Frida - I agree. They admitted in court they did not ask him what his disability/physical issues was/were. There was another photo posted on BBC showing police loading him onto the van - without his wheelchair and a question was asked at trial about support (physical) in the van and police said there was built in support just by placing him in the van; however, it's difficult to see where that would be a safe transport option for many who are wheelchair users.
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