Policeman guilty of assaulting spitting suspect

A police officer has been found guilty of punching a suspect in the face after he spat in the officer's mouth.

PC Rohan Scarlett, 47, was accused of assaulting Andrew Uba as he put him in a police van in February.

Metropolitan Police officer Scarlett was transferring Uba from Islington police station to custody in Lewisham, east London.

The officer who denied common assault, at Highbury Magistrates Court, is currently suspended from duties.

Scarlett, from Croydon, south London, said he had struggled while transferring Uba to custody.

But as he put Uba inside the van, without warning Uba spat at close distance in his face, Scarlett told the court.

"A big lump went in my mouth and left eye and spray went over my face and vest.

"Because I hadn't heard him bringing it up I thought he was going to spit at me again so I struck him in the face area."

Scarlett wiped his face of spit, opened the van door and intentionally "launched" himself at Uba, punching him twice, the court was told.

The court was shown a photograph from the scene, with a pool of blood on the seat where Uba had been sitting.

Another officer PC David O'Hara was present at the time of the incident.

PC O'Hara claimed he tried to remove Scarlett from the suspect but he was not strong enough.

He said he told the defendant after the punch "we don't do that", to which he said Mr Scarlett replied "yeah we do".

Delivering the guilty verdict, chair of the bench Sue Rose said: "We do not accept that the defendant honestly believed that he needed to use force to defend himself in these circumstances."

Sentencing was adjourned until 20 September and Scarlett was given continued unconditional bail.

Scarlett's defence barrister, Tom Godfrey, said his client would be appealing against the verdict.


Source: BBC news website.

Guilty of common assault or self defence? What's your opinion?

Spitting in someone's face is amost vile act, l think in the officer's place many of us would have reacted the same. My opinion, not guilty .

Not guilty the guy would be in shock and would not have known what.was coming next. The other policeman a little s........

not guilty

vile ... like that should be punished with severe beatings.

that is disgusting!

I agree, disgusting, and if somebody did it to me I'd probably act the same way, if not a little less restrained.

However other newspapers carry a bit more of the story:

He wasn't just found guilty because he reacted and punched out, he'd already got the guy into the van and shut the door on him, he then unlocked the door, got the guy and started to beat him up, it was another officer who dragged him off telling him "we don't do that" to which he replied "yeah we do".

The copper, who is 6'1, had to be dragged away and handcuffed.

He claimed that his colleague was lying and had made all this up, but was found guilty.

If someone spat at me I think I would punch them more than once as well - what is our system coming to...

Know the law on this - he says he hit him twice as that is the legal limit for reacting in self-defence, if you strike someone 3 times unanswered that is deemed the start of you attacking the other person - does not matter that you were provoked.

I was a prison officer for 7 years and my pet hate was spitting and I would rather be punched in the face than spat at by some smack head if that happened a serious mufty was called for and it would never happen again ha . No 1 goes to work to be assaulted nevermind spitting that's low scummy cowards attack . Man up society has gone to fooking pot and this officer should say fook the job ! They not even got his back against the ... .too many people quick to lblame and stab others in back what ever happened to united we come forth as 1 ! Stand up against the shite of society we pay out our whole lives to become prisoners in our own homes .

The big problem is that the ... have human rights even though they don't act like humans. :-(

so coppers dont hit you for nothin,if you think that you are deluded,ye the fella needed a smack for spittin,but how many coppers have smaked someone in custody just for being gobby and dont say it doesnt happen cause it does.

And............"Stand up against the shite of society" !!!!

don't be gobby, don't get smacked.

pmsl you spotted a troll

I hope the spitter didn't wasn't HIV positive or had Hepatitis. I know someone who contracted Hepatitis from someone spitting into his eye.

some people on here make me cringe,why because they think the police do no wrong. dont get me wrong there are some good coppers and wrong ones.early 70's and 80's done some time.my fault for bein an idiot iv done scubbs, detention centres,borstal and prison not proud of it and turned my life around.but i could tell tell you stories that would give you nightmares about these people who are supposed to uphold the law,
there is a big story now about how screws as we used to call them were raping young offenders in one certain borstal, and some of the beatings i watched and got myself were brutal.so please take dont take wat the police say as truth,if another copper nicked his mate it means his mate went over the top and there was no way back.so please go on and say i deserved it for being a naughty boy i never stole nothing or robbed know one my problem was an anger problem.

Eddie64, I'm interested to know how you would react if somebody spat at you and it went in your mouth and eyes?

I know policemen & women receive a lot of training, but they are just people.

Well said!! I worked in A&E for a while. Was kicked, punched, verbally abused & all sorts. The worst thing was being spat at. We had to literally just stand and take it back then, when what we really wanted to do was turf them out on their arrse & bar them from the department. They do that now but in the 80's we couldn't.

We are having trouble now with scrotes who have no regard or respect for anyone or anything. If I had done what they did to me tonight, I would be spending the night in the cells. That's not the fault of the Police, it's the fault of those who make the laws! Why should the majority have their lives blighted by the minority of ...?

It's about time we claimed our lives back and said enough is enough!! I for one refuse to lie down and roll over so that the scrotes can get away with making people's lives a misery.

This is for Eddie you know the score lad if uve been in the system like I said its so funny how people treat you like a [censored] because you wear a uniform ans earn a decent tax paying living . I don't give a flying about goin over the top at all as given half the chance these people woyldnt give a second thought I'd they had the upper hand .I would of given you a slap for bein go by too so if you do the crime do the time . QUIETLY ha .as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil as I'm the ............ Evilest in the fooking valley .