https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3wexg57dq1o

An investigation has begun into the conduct of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers over a video that appears to show a teenage boy being kicked in the head during an arrest.

The boy, who is 16, was arrested outside a nightclub in Cookstown, County Tyrone, in the early hours of Sunday morning on suspicion of assault on police.

The video, first reported by the Irish News, external and shared with BBC News NI, appears to show the boy being held on the ground by one officer while another kicks him once.

The PSNI said it has notified the office of the Police Ombudsman of the incident.

A Police Ombudsman spokesman confirmed it had received a complaint "which we will be investigating" and that also it was "notified of the matter by the PSNI".

'Reprehensible'
A solicitor representing the boy said the incident should be immediately investigated and that it was "wholly wrong".

It is "reprehensible for anyone to kick someone on the ground while they are detained", Gavin Booth added.

The solicitor, from Phoenix Law, also said the officer involved "should not be on front-line duties while it is being investigated".

He said the boy and his friend had been thrown out of a nightclub and were shouting in the street when police officers approached them.

Mr Booth added that this time of year most parents "will let their children go out thinking that the police are there to keep them safe" and that incidents like this undermines that trust.

BBC News NI understands that no officer has been removed from duty at this time.

The PSNI said a 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of three counts of assault on police after a disturbance in Cookstown in the early hours of Sunday.

"The disturbance occurred after patrol officers stopped to assist an injured man in the James Street area.

"The boy was later released on bail to allow for further enquiries."

In a statement posted on social media, three independent republican councillors from the area described the incident as a "disgraceful act of violence against a minor".

by BelfastTelegraph

17 comments

  2. I’m sure he was a wee angel. Out for a claim.

    Edit: Down vote away but kicked out of a club, police are attending somebody injured at the site and then there’s 3 assaults going against him. Doesn’t sound like a great lad. Cunts like him ruin the night for others.

  4. While not condoning kicking a restrained kid in the head. If that’s happened that’s fully wrong and the officer should be dealt with as a criminal. Once someone is restrained by the police they deserve their protection no matter what they have done.

    But “thinking that the police are there to keep our children safe” is over egging the pudding a little, the solicitor seems to be ignoring that his client may well have been doing something to make other people unsafe to end up being restrained in the first instance.

    It doesn’t justify kicking in the head, absolutely not, but let’s not try and take too much of a moral high ground if you’ve been a gobshite in the first instance.

  5. Anyone got a link to the video? Can’t really make a judgement til I see the footage.

  6. If you can’t restrain someone without kicking them in the head, you’re in the wrong job

  8. No one want to ask wtf a 16yo was doing outside the nightclub in the early hours?

    I know for a fact that neither I nor any of my classmates could have been seen at the lamh dearg or the pink pussy on a Sunday night, nor dying in school on Monday….

    Edit: fuck me you are all sarcasm impaired lol

  10. The PSNI office should never had done this, the club should never have let a 16 year old into a license premises and the 3 why did the kids parent let them out at 16 to go to a place that is for over 18s. Child protection needs to investigate the parents, the council need to investigate the premises as well. More questions than answers from this one.

    Ps hop the kid is not badly hurt cause any kick to head can do harm.

  12. Typical RUC behaviour. Nothing that hasn’t happened thousands of times before and again.

  13. I’d be dubious about people who say a teenager deserves a kick in the head by a public servant.

  16. It’s simple, if he keeps his job then the PSNI as a body can be said to find this behaviour condonable. How much of this goes on every day that is not caught on a camera?

    Edit: To add, police have a difficult job to do and one that most people in all honesty probably aren’t equipped for. If you can’t restrain a 16 year old without kicking him in the head you’re one of the majority who are not qualified for that role

  17. He absolutely will lose his job, with potentially other action taken against him. They have had an incredibly bad history, but the PSNI currently I would regard as one of the most professional police forces in the world.

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