PEPPER spray was used by PC David Thompson for the first time in six years of policing last month as a hostile crowd threatened to over-run him and two others during an arrest in Pinehurst.

Tempers were running high in Sycamore Grove on the evening of Saturday, September 27, as PC Thompson and two police community support officers attempted to arrest 23-year-old Leon Scott.

On Wednesday, Scott, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Swindon Crown Court to several motoring offences involving an illegal quad bike, as well as resisting a police officer.

In the events leading up to arrest, Scott had been reported for riding the bike, with his four-year-old son as a passenger with no helmet, across pavements and common land in the area.

When PC Thompson and his colleagues attended, they saw the son removed from the bike and left, as Scott fled. In making the child safe and placing him in the van, the constable riled the defendant, who, upon his return, became aggressive and required restraint.

Scott’s resistance and aggression with the officers was considered excessive, and as they grappled to restrain him, the crowd of neighbours grew more disgruntled.

The spray used, known as PAVA, was a last resort for PC Thompson, who knew he had to both restrain Scott quickly and minimise the risk of igniting a growing crowd.

“I took the kid over to the police van and made sure he was okay,” said PC Thompson. “At that point, everyone started coming around and asking what we were doing.

“There were no parents around and he had been chucked off the quad bike with no regard for his safety.

“When Leon returned, he came running around the corner and made a beeline for us. He came straight over to us at speed. We thought he was going to smack us or something. I went over to him whilst the other officers protected the child.

“More of the residents had come outside. His girlfriend had potentially rallied some support from other people.

“We needed to subdue him and I opted for the PAVA spray. I have dealt with lots of nasty situations. In the heat of the situation your mind makes these decisions very quickly.

“My rationale was that there were lots of people around us, if you wrestle him to the floor and he starts to get hurt as we restrain him, with cuts and bruises, people could get involved and hurt us as well.

“We had been struggling with him for four or five minutes and we weren’t getting anywhere. He wasn’t responding to our requests and our arm lock, we had no choice.

“If you start to get more aggressive with him, everyone is already on his side and they are only going to react one way.

“People might think it’s the police being over the top, but if you want to fight the police when they’re arresting you, what do you expect?

“My colleagues were only PCSOs, who only wore body armour. Their safety is my responsibility and I had to act quickly to restrain him.”

Once the spray had been used in Scott’s face, he spat into the eye of PC Thompson, which the account in court claimed was an accident. The crowd became more involved as Scott was taken away and one of the PCSOs was scratched in the line of duty by a resident.

Scott was fined £250 for obstructing a police officer, £250 for using a vehicle without insurance, and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £25 victim surcharge when he appeared on Wednesday.

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