Great Yarmouth police officer appears to strike disabled man

The 24-second clip was filmed on St Peters Road, near Great Yarmouth seafront, on Monday afternoon and shows the policeman involved in a violent struggle with the man, landing around half a dozen blows on him.

Witnesses said the man, who has one leg, was in the middle of the road and holding a bottle of alcohol when the officer arrived on the scene, outside a Londis store.

READ MORE: Police officer appears to strike disabled man in wheelchair

The witnesses said the man, who was still holding the bottle, moved as though he was about to get up before the officer took the bottle and started "pushing and punching him".

Onlookers said they were shocked by the incident and have criticised the officer's actions, saying it has left them afraid of the police.

Diari 'Jay' Salih, 40, who runs a barbershop on the street, said when he saw what was happening he approached the officer and told him to stop.

"Nobody's happy about this. I can't get the image out of my head. People around here now do not feel safe with the police," he said.

He said that the man in the wheelchair was also pepper sprayed several times.

Another witness said: "The man in the wheelchair is around here a lot of the time. Everybody knows him here.

"He had a bottle of alcohol in his hands. He was in the middle of the street. The police officer came from around the corner and pushed him to the corner.

"The man in the wheelchair did a movement like he was going to get up. Then the police officer started pushing and punching."

Witnesses said the man in the wheelchair, who is disabled with only one leg, was in the middle of the road, holding a bottle of alcohol (Image: Snapchat)

The witnesses said the man did not appear to be armed and that his bottle was not broken.

More officers eventually arrived and the man, who is in his 30s, was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and assaulting an emergency worker.

The whole incident lasted around 40 minutes.

Norfolk Constabulary has confirmed it has referred the incident to its Professional Standards Department and the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The force said the officer had come across a man in the street being verbally abusive.
A spokesman said that during the incident, the man threatened the officer with a bottle and spat at him.

Police are investigating the conduct of the officer who carried out the arrest after he was said to have came across a man being verbally abusive in the street (Image: Snapchat)

Chief Inspector Matt Dyson, the local policing commander, said: “We are aware of a video circulating on social media, we are carrying out a thorough investigation of the circumstances including a review of the officer’s body worn video. 

“We recognise the public concern around the level of force used in this incident and this will form part of our investigation.”

READ MORE: Police target antisocial behaviour

The law allows officers to use 'reasonable force' when carrying out their role of law enforcement.

This provision is under Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967, which states: "A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large."