Man enjoying a drink with his uncle in a city park, unlawfully arrested and CS gassed, agrees out of Court settlement against West Midlands Police

On 25 June 2015, my client Matt Grocott met up with his uncle and the two decided to share a drink in St Peters Gardens, a park in Wolverhampton.

At approximately 15.00, a PCSO Parsley of West Midlands Police approached Matt and requested that he refrain from drinking alcohol and mentioned that the area was a designated public place.

In response, Matt placed his open can of lager underneath the bench on which he was sitting.

After several minutes, PCSO Parsley approached Matt again and informed him that he had a right to confiscate his drink and then picked up the can of lager from beneath the bench.

Matt having complied with PCSO Parsley’s instruction not to consume alcohol thought it unnecessary and inappropriate for an attempt to be made to confiscate the can of lager and he therefore also took hold of the can of lager that PCSO Parsley was now holding.

Since Matt and PCSO Parsley both had hold of the can of lager some of the contents of the can of lager spilled over both Matt and PCSO Parsley.

Eventually, PCSO Parsley released his grip on the can and Matt then walked over to a nearby public bin, emptied the remaining contents of the can of lager into a flowerbed and placed the empty can into the bin.

Matt then collected his possessions and left.

Nearby, two men wearing plain clothes approached Matt and told him he was under arrest for assault and began to try to handcuff him.

Matt was told to hold out his arms or he would be sprayed with CS.

Matt asked “Who did I assault?” to which one of the Officers then deployed his CS incapacitant spray in Matt’s face, at an extremely close distance.

The Officers then took Matt to the ground where he was handcuffed.

Matt was then transported to Wolverhampton Central Police Station where he established that he had been arrested for ‘assault person assisting Constable’ i.e. this was in relation to the can of lager ‘sloshing’ onto PCSO Parsley. Matt was processed, interviewed and eventually released on bail.

A few hours later it was determined that there was no realistic prospect of conviction and that Matt should receive a notice of no further action.

Matt pursued a claim for false arrest and assault. In response, West Midlands Police denied liability.  Following the institution of Court proceedings, Matt accepted an out of Court settlement of £12,500.