Two Sussex Police officers convicted of assaulting teenage girl

A court found the pair used 'excessive use of force' during an arrest

Author: Ryan BurrowsPublished 20th Dec 2021

Two Sussex police have been convicted of assaulting a teenage girl they had detained in Hastings.

46-year-old PC Deborah Sands, and 35-year-old PC Kris Green, based in East Sussex, were found guilty of assault by using excessive use of force against her during her detention in May 2020 following a trial at Folkestone Magistrates Court last month.

They will be sentenced on January 26th.

Detective Superintendent Rachel Carr, head of Sussex Police's Professional Standards Department, said:

“While police need to use force at times during the course of their work, this is highly regulated, and excessive use of force is unacceptable and any incidents will be fully investigated.

“As soon as we became aware of this case we made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the officers were placed on restricted duties while they were under investigation.

"We then suspended them after an IOPC investigation led to them being charged with the offence.

"We will be resuming disciplinary action against the officers now that the criminal investigation has concluded.”

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