WMP officer charged with string of assaults following ‘excessive force’ inquiry
A West Midlands Police officer has been charged with committing three assaults which allegedly took place during separate incidents in Birmingham over a four-day period.
The charges are in connection with a series of ongoing investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into allegations of excessive use of force by police officers in the city earlier this year.
Police Constable Declan Jones, aged 29, has been charged with common assaults in relation to the detention of a youth at Newtown on April 21; the stop and search of a man at Aston on April 20; and the stop and search of another man at Handsworth on April 23.
The IOPC began its investigation into the circumstances of the incident at Newtown following a voluntary referral from West Midlands Police on April 30. Investigations in respect of the incidents at Aston and Handsworth followed complaints referred to the IOPC in May.
The IOPC said: “Files of evidence from our inquiries to the Crown Prosecution Service which has now authorised the charges.”
PC Jones, who is based in Birmingham, will make his first appearance before Coventry Magistrates’ Court on November 18 this year. PC Jones is believed to have been suspended from active duty earlier this year.
