Man left in wheelchair after Met officer Tasered him was 'no threat' to police, court hears

Leonard Sandiford fell to the ground after being zapped by PC Liam Newman as he attempted to run away from police in Woodford Green, east London.

PC Newman had been with another officer responding to a report of an attempted burglary at a bookmakers at 5am on April 24, 2022, when the chase ensued.

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The officer, who is is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of grievous bodily harm, Tasered Mr Sandiford as he climbed on to an outbuilding after turning in cul-de-sac.

As a result, Mr Sandiford sustained an injury to his spinal cord and is now tetraplegic and requires a wheelchair, the jury was told.

Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor Irshad Sheikh said: "Mr Sandiford was simply running away. He was not a threat to either of the officers."

The prosecution say that PC Newman demonstrated an unreasonable use of force when he fired the Taser in these circumstances making it unlawful.

"Pc Newman, as you would expect, had been on training programmes for the deployment and use of Tasers,” Mr Sheikh told jurors.

"That training highlighted the risks involved where subjects were running away and the risk of injury being increased as they would be moving at a higher speed.

"That risk increased further when a subject was at a height. A person being incapacitated in these circumstances would inevitably lead to the risk of an uncontrolled and unsupported fall.

"The risk of injury being caused in these circumstances should have been obvious to Pc Newman."

The two officers had been called to Chigwell Road, where they cut off a white Ford van that Mr Sandiford was driving.

They approached the vehicle and tried to stop it, with PC Newman using his baton to strike at the driver's side and opening the door to pull Mr Sandiford out, the court heard.

Mr Sheikh said the van then started to moving backwards, likely because the handbrake had not been applied.

Pc Newman then drew his Taser and pointed it at Mr Sandiford, who was still in the driver’s seat.

Jurors heard that Mr Sandiford held his hands up as he got out of the vehicle and was told to get on his knees by Pc Newman.

Mr Sandiford began to bend his knees slightly, but then began to run and was pursued by the officers.

The court heard that Pc Newman fired his Taser twice during the chase and then twice when Mr Sandiford had scaled the wall of the shed.

After the first shot while Mr Sandiford was on the wall, he “gave out a yell but continued on his way”, Mr Sheikh said.

The second discharge incapacitated Mr Sandiford, leading him to lose control of his muscles and fall to the ground.

Pc Newman denies grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.