A Warrington police officer has been cleared of assault after pushing an 80-year-old deaf man to the floor in a Runcorn custody suite. Benjamin Betts, 24, was accused of assaulting Ronald Jarvis after the elderly widower was arrested on suspicion of drink driving on December 8 2025.
Mr Jarvis, who was deaf and did not have his hearing aid at the time, had been sitting on the floor of his cell at the North Cheshire Custody Facility when he began shouting for help at around 4.30am. When detention officer Gaynor Tindall opened the door, Mr Jarvis attempted to walk out, and a brief struggle ensued.
Trial and CCTV evidence
CCTV footage of the incident was played at a trial at Sefton Magistrates Court today, November 5. The 10-minute video showed Mr Jarvis reclining on the floor of his cell when Mrs Tindall checked on him through a gap in the door.
She asked: "Are you alright Ronald? What are you doing down there?", and he said: "Help, can you help? Can you help me?"
Mrs Tindall unlocked the door as Mr Jarvis got to his feet using the wall as support. When the door opened, he attempted to walk out, and grabbed Mrs Tindall's arms as she tried to stop him.
Mrs Tindall said: "You're not coming out. You have to sit down there", and Mr Jarvis was heard to say: "I need it."
He continued to try to step out of the cell, but was pushed back inside by Mrs Tindall. Betts then entered and pushed the elderly man into the wall before pushing him to the floor, leaving him lying on his back in the middle of his cell.
PC Betts' defence
Cheshire Police officer Betts, of Mulgrave Street in Swinton, Manchester, denied assault by beating. He claimed he had acted in defence of both Mrs Tindall and himself.
In court, he said he was attending Runcorn custody suite that night in connection with another incident, and was on his way to check on a suspect who had suffered a possible seizure when he noticed Mrs Tindall struggling at the door of a cell.
He said: "I could see the door was open towards me obscuring the majority of my view. I could see detention officer Tindall. Her leg was out, her arms were up. She was taking a bladed stance.
"I could see the lack of her arms which suggested they were outstretched. I could see her shoulders. She said 'I need some help', or 'can I get some help'."
He said he realised she was struggling with someone behind the cell door, and believed the person was assaulting her.
He said: "I came around the door first to get a better view but also to intervene. I placed myself between detention officer Tindall and Mr Jarvis. At that stage I felt not only that he had been assaulting the detention officer, but he was about to assault her again.
"They were struggling. They were rocking back and forth at the cell door. It appeared Mr Jarvis was attempting to push his way out of the cell and the detention officer was putting herself in the cell to stop him."
Expert testimony and verdict
Betts denied "throwing" Mr Jarvis, claiming only to have "pushed" him. This was disputed by Metropolitan Police sergeant Adam O'Grady, who was invited to review the CCTV footage.
He said: "I have got to look at the threat that Mr Jarvis is at the time. PC Betts maintained he was concerned for the safety of his colleague and safety of himself.
"At the time when he entered (the cell), Mr Jarvis had stepped back and had his back to the wall. I don't see any immediate threat to PC Betts or the detention officer."
He accepted the incident was "spontaneous" and "happened quickly", but said that Mr Jarvis was "small in stature" and that Betts simply placing himself between him and Mrs Tindall should have been enough to de-escalate the situation.
Detention officer Gaynor Tindall said Mr Jarvis was "intoxicated when he came in" and "smelled of alcohol." Further CCTV footage of the pensioner being booked into the custody suite was played to the court. In it, he appeared unresponsive with his head down as police officers attempted to talk to him, and he appeared to be signing with his hands.
After being placed in a cell, he was put on 30 minute observations. At around 4.30am, Mrs Tindall went to check on him and found him sitting on the floor near the door.
She said: "He was shouting 'help me, help me'. I said 'what are you doing down there?' and I opened the cell door. I was going to go in and help him up off the floor because I thought he was saying 'help me' because he couldn't get up."
When she opened the door, however, Mr Jarvis attempted to leave his cell. She said: "He stepped forward towards me. I was shocked, scared and frightened because his whole demeanour had changed. He was agitated and angry.
"He was up, quite lively, and he put his hand out onto the lock and said 'I need to get out of here, I can't stay here'. In my mind I was going to just take his hand off the lock and said 'go back in your cell'. I really had to grab it and yank it off."
When asked what PC Betts had done, she said: "He came in and he got him off me and he created a space so we could get out, so that we could shut the door."
She said she had worked with Betts for seven years, and described him as "really good" and "compassionate". She said: "He has the ability to stay calm. I have never heard him shout or swear at anybody. I have never seen him lose his temper."
District judge James Hatton said whether Betts' actions amounted to a throw or a push "mattered not" in determining his verdict. He said it was "entirely impossible to prove that self defence is not an issue here", and handed down a not guilty verdict.
He said: "I accept the evidence that is given to me. This, in my view, is not a matter where the criminal courts need to get involved. I cannot be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you assaulted Ronald Jarvis."
