Pc guilty of kicking arrested man

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A policeman was convicted today of kicking a Trinidadian drug convict while arresting him.

Pc Edward Prince was found unanimously guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court, in London, of intentionally kicking Nyrone Games in the face.

Games, who was convicted in May 2007 of eight counts of conspiring to supply Class A drugs, was wanted for deportation and for breaching the terms of his prison release.

When officers tried to arrest him from his girlfriend's property in Croydon, south London, he gave a false name then fled.

During a long chase through the streets, he tried to hit an officer with a shovel before eventually being brought to ground on Brighton Road in Purley.

Prince, 31, who was wearing plain clothes, was captured on CCTV running towards the front of Games as he lay on the floor.

The footage, repeatedly played to the jury, did not cover Games's head and appeared inconclusive.

Pc Tina Bassett told the five men and seven women of the jury she overheard Prince tell Games he deserved the kick.

Prosecutor Sam Brown said: "Pc Bassett heard him say words to the effect that Games would have received worse if the incident wasn't captured on closed circuit television."

Police colleagues gave both prosecution and defence evidence - with officers contradicting one another forcefully about what happened.

Games's blood and saliva were found on Prince's shoe, but he said they could have come from bending down so closely to him.

Prince, of Crawley, West Sussex, was jailed for 18 months.

Commander Peter Spindler, the Metropolitan Police's director of professional standards, said: "All Met employees are expected to behave professionally, ethically and with the utmost integrity at all times.

"Any instance where the conduct of our staff is alleged to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected is treated extremely seriously by the MPS and will be robustly investigated.

"Today's sentence sends a clear message that this kind of behaviour by a public servant is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in British society."

PA