Man wins £30,000 payout after being wrongly Tasered by police

A man has won a £30,000 payout after he was wrongly Tasered by police while out celebrating his birthday with friends.

Dimitri Moses, 38, was climbing over a gate in Nottingham on July 10, 2021, as he fled police officers who he believed would attack him.

While he was six feet above ground, police Tasered Mr Moses against official policing guidance, making him fall and lose consciousness.

Police officers are only permitted to use the weapons "as a proportionate response to an identified threat, external".

As a result from the lofty drop, the man, who lives in London, fractured three vertebrae in his spine and sustained injuries across his back, chest and hands and right shoulder.

Nottinghamshire Police said it hoped the payout "will offer comfort to the complainant".

But Mr Moses claimed race played a role in the police Tasering him, with figures over the course of 2021 and 2022 proving that black individuals were five times more likely to be Tasered than white people.

The force claimed an officer was attempting to arrest Mr Moses for a public order offence, but the man insisted the police officer had not informed him of this.

While lockdown restrictions were in place, the then-34-year-old was enjoying a night on the town with two friends, with all three of them heading to a bar.

The trio were asked to leave because one was said to be dancing away from their table during a time when Covid social distancing rules did not allow such behaviour.

During this time, customers had to order and drink their beverages while sitting down.

Mr Moses alleged a member of security staff threatened to "put a bullet" in his friend's head while the three departed the scene.

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Consequently, his friend began talking to several police officers outside the venue.

Legal documents revealed an officer called PC Butler shoved Mr Moses across the street, shown on CCTV footage.

"He told me he was giving me to the count of 10 to leave the area, and he put his hand on my throat and pushed me back on the wall across the street," Mr Moses said.

PC Butler "lunged towards" the Londoner when he began to count to 10. Nottinghamshire Police has denied the claim.

When he was surrounded, Mr Moses said that he ran away from the scene after feeling panicked.

The officers went after him towards Sneinton Market before PC McClintock Tasered him while the man clambered over a metal gate.

Police said the officer "concluded it was necessary to discharge his Taser in order to prevent the claimant's escape and safely detain him".

But Mr Moses's lawyer argued: "There are going to be times when an officer should deploy a Taser but those are situations where there is a threat to the officer, a member of the public, or to the individual themselves.

"In this particular case, none of those situations applied."

Mr Moses was arrested later on and charged with a public order offence and resisting arrest. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case.

After the man won £30,000 in damages, they said: "Policing can be a fast-moving and challenging situation.

"It is vitally important that if we get things wrong, then we ensure that we put them right and we hope this settlement will offer some comfort to the complainant.

"The matter was investigated by Nottinghamshire Police professional standards, who found no evidence to suggest that any conduct was influenced by factors relating to race."