Police officer who threatened to ‘make something up’ in order to arrest man will face misconduct hearing over ‘completely unacceptable’ behaviour
- Video widely circulated online showed officer confronting a man in Accrington
- He says: ‘I’ll make something up. Public order, squaring up to a police officer’
- The officer was then heard saying: ‘Who are they going to believe, me or you?’
A police officer will face a misconduct hearing after threatening to ‘make something up’ in order to arrest a man.
Video that was widely circulated online showed the officer confronting Adam Kidger in Accrington, Lancashire.
In the clip, Mr Kidger is heard saying: ‘You’re harassing me. What for? I’ve done nothing wrong.’
The officer squares up to him and says: ‘If you want to f***ing step to me and push your chest out and something like that then fine. I’ll lock you up. We’ll do that shall we?’
Adam Kidger (above) was seen on film being aggressively challenged by a police officer in Accrington, Lancashire, on April 17. The officer, who told Mr Kidger that he would ‘make something up’ to justify an arrest, is now being investigated for gross misconduct
In the video, Mr Kidger (left) – who claimed he had gone out to buy a quad bike – is heard saying to an officer (right): ‘You’re harassing me, what for? I’ve done nothing wrong’
After Mr Kidger responds by again protesting his innocence, the officer replies: ‘I’ll make something up. Public order, squaring up to a police officer. Shall I do that?
The officer then adds: ‘Who are they going to believe, me or you?’
Lancashire’s Chief Constable Andy Rhodes was forced to apologise following the incident – on April 17, last year – calling the officer’s behaviour ‘completely unacceptable’.
The force also suspended the officer from duty and referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for investigation.
The IOPC has now concluded its investigation and says the officer has a ‘case to answer’ for misconduct.
He’ll now face a misconduct hearing and could be dismissed by the force if his behaviour is deemed gross misconduct.
A second officer who was under investigation over an allegation that he did not challenge or report the conduct of the first officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
During the incident, one of two Lancashire police officers at the scene is seen surrounded by youths. One of the officers involved has now been told he is under investigation for gross misconduct
An IOPC spokesperson said: ‘Our investigation into an incident in Coach Road, Accrington involving an altercation between a Lancashire police officer and a member of the public is now complete.
‘We have referred our findings to Lancashire Police, who agree that one of the officers we investigated has a case to answer for misconduct. We found there was no case to answer for another officer we investigated.
‘A misconduct meeting will be scheduled by the force in due course.’
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said no date for the misconduct hearing had been set.