Cop sentenced for punching health worker after mistaking him for suspect

A Met Police officer has been spared jail after he punched a teetotal Buddhist after mistaking him for a drunken suspect.

Jonathan Marsh, 34, has appeared in court after he was earlier found guilty of common assault against audiologist, Rasike Attanayake, after he reported an incident of criminal damage in Romford.

Rasike, who offers services to the NHS, called the Met Police after he spotted a man smashing up his neighbour's property. But when they arrived, he was wrongly arrested and assaulted by the officers on November 13, 2022.

PC Marsh, of Canvey Island, was convicted of assault by beating after a trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court today. He was given a two week prison sentence which is suspended for twelve months. He will also have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay the victim £1500 in compensation.

Rasike previously told The Mirror that he called the police after he heard a loud noise outside of his clinic called HearHear. He explained that both himself and his neighbour, a manager at a homeless shelter, stepped outside to see what was wrong.

He realised his sideboards had been damaged following the incident. "We were talking about what may have gone wrong, and a white male came over with a shopping cart of glass bottles," he said. "I think he was angry with my neighbour for some reason. He was fixated and very very angry, he was throwing bottles at him and trying to hurt him."

The Buddhist tried to calm down the individual and eventually convinced him to go into the nearby homeless shelter. Rasike went back inside his clinic and put his shutters down, but he decided to call the police when the man began to cause trouble again.

PC Marsh and an unnamed female officer later arrived. He added: "I walked up to them and introduced myself. I said I phoned them and that there's an incident that happened and gave them the directions.

"The female cop went to move the car, and the man went looking for the suspect but a few seconds later they turned around and put cuffs on me, and kicked me in the thighs and put me on the ground.

"I think the police communication[radio from control] they identified me as a suspect. The radio communications said I match the description of the suspect. I asked the female constable why I was under arrest and she said I match the description of a drunk and disorderly man and my breath stunk of alcohol. I’m tee-total, I’m a Buddhist, I don’t drink. I had been working, doing some admin for my clinic. I was not given a breathalyser test."

Shocking footage revealed the moments leading up to the attack as Marsh shouted "get on f---ing floor now" as the audiologist begged "please can you not do that". In the clip released by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the officer repeated the phrase again before he punched Mr Attanayake in the back of the head.

District Judge Annabel Pilling said: "The original 999 call had been made by Mr Attanayake. The audiologist had been working in his clinic when there was a disturbance outside.

"Mr Attanayake was a middle-aged, mild man. His behaviour was nothing like that reported. There is no dispute that the CCTV operator gave you incorrect information that Mr Attanayake was in fact the suspect. Mr Attanayake had no issue with you acting on that information.

"He knew that he was not the suspect and that his telephone would reveal the two calls he'd made. But what happened next I found at the time to be disgraceful and unwarranted."

The judge added: "Mr Attanayake was taken to the ground very suddenly without warning. This was not one of those high-adrenalin, potentially violent situations where a police officer might have been excused or understood as to why violence had to be used.

"Mr Attanayake was compliant. He was not thrashing his leg around, or jerking body around, not swearing, not trying to get away from you. The footage shows him lying on the ground, his hands behind his back, with you leaning on top of him, when you struck him with an unwarranted punch to the back of the head.

"You suggested that this was some sort of Home Office approved technique. This was an unnecessary and dangerous thing to do. In evidence Mr Attanayake said he thought of George Floyd as he was lying there, and there is some suggestion that he considered your actions to be motivated by race.

"However, I took this comment as a reference to the fear he felt to be in a vulnerable position underneath a police officer. The maximum sentence for this offence is six months imprisonment."

Judge Pilling added that according to the sentencing guidelines the injuries sustained by Mr Attanayake were "not the most severe". The judge continued: "The starting point is therefore one of a medium level community order with a range of low level to 16 weeks custody.

"You maintain that your use of force was justified and proportionate, even after viewing the footage and even after you were found guilty. I have concluded that the offence is so serious that the only appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment.

"I'm of the view that I can and should suspend the sentence. Your risk to the public is low, the offence is committed in circumstances in which you had been misled by the CCTV operator. I therefore sentence you to two weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months."