Officer due in court charged with common assault
A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer will appear in court this week charged with two counts of common assault during the arrest of a man in Elephant and Castle in August last year.
PC Luke Wenham, who is attached to the Central South Basic Command Unit, was charged on Thursday, February 9, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (March 1).
It follows an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into the arrest at a residential address in Albert Barnes House, South East London, on August 17, 2022.
The MPS said PC Wenham has been placed on restricted duties and its Directorate of Professional Standards is aware of the case.
The IOPC began its investigation in September last year after it received a conduct referral from the force and concluded it in January, when a file of evidence was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charges contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.