Police officer charged with assaulting car thief used ‘reasonable’ force, say prosecutors
PC Saul Hignett will not face criminal proceedings
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Prosecutors have ruled that a police officer who was charged with assault for beating a man while arresting him used “reasonable, proportionate and necessary force” and have discontinued the case against him.
PC Saul Hignett, 27, was last August charged with assaulting Adeel Ashraf, 35, after footage shared online showed the man being restrained by a number of officers in Accrington, Lancashire, on 8 January last year.
Ashraf was convicted for dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking and driving without a licence and insurance. He was jailed for 16 months in March 2020.
The officer was charged with common assault in August 2020 following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
PC Hignett was due to face trial, but will face no further action after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ruled that there is not “a realistic prospect of conviction”.
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The agency’s ruling means he will not face criminal proceedings.
The CCTV footage, which was shared on social media, shows Ashraf putting his hands in the air and kneeling on the pavement as five officers exit the vehicles and run towards him. The officers then push him the ground and begin punching and kicking him before handcuffing him.
Burnley Crown Court heard that the arrest followed a 10-minute pursuit during which Ashraf deliberately drove at a police car, according to a report in the Lancashire Telegraph newspaper.
The CPS said in a statement: “Following a further review of the case, the CPS has concluded that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and has stopped the prosecution of PC Saul Hignett for assault of a man during the course of an arrest in January 2020.
“The CPS has a duty to keep all cases under continuous review. After receiving a report from the defence by an expert in the use of force, the CPS instructed its own independent expert, who agreed with the defence expert and concluded after taking into account all the evidence, including footage of the incident, that the officer was using force that was reasonable, proportionate and necessary.”
The agency said that it is unable to proceed with the case as there is “not a realistic prospect of conviction”, adding that it has written to the complainant explaining why the case has been discontinued.
It added: “The CPS’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to bring a case before the court.”
An IOPC spokesperson said that the CPS’s decision means PC Hignett will not face criminal proceedings in relation to this incident, and that a decision on disciplinary proceedings remains pending.
Lancashire Police has been contacted for comment.