A Greater Manchester Police officer has been dismissed without notice after a disciplinary panel found he used 'unnecessary, unreasonable and excessive' force when he dragged a handcuffed suspect from the back of a police van, causing the man to fall headfirst into the road. PC Brian Seu, who joined GMP in 2019, was found guilty of gross misconduct following the incident in Wigan on March 23, 2023, and has been placed on the College of Policing's barred list.
Incident at Wigan flats
The panel heard that PC Seu was one of three officers called to reports of an assault at a block of flats in the early hours of the morning. After breaking down the door, the officers arrested a suspect referred to as SC. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police van, where he began banging his head on the door with 'extreme force'.
Without telling the other officers or the suspect what he was about to do, PC Seu pulled SC out of the vehicle in 'one rapid movement', causing him to fall headfirst into the road. While SC was bleeding from a head wound, PC Seu told him: 'You're not talking big any more' before applying leg restraints and taking him to hospital.
Officer's defence and evidence
PC Seu denied using excessive force or breaching standards of professional conduct. Giving evidence, he said his 'sole aim' was to 'safeguard' SC, who he claimed had been 'abusing drugs, was volatile and abusive, and had been repeatedly head-butting the metal cage with enough force to rock the vehicle'. The officer said he 'fully expected' SC to stand up after stepping down from the van and that the fall was caused by the suspect 'failing to move his feet', 'compounded by the speed/momentum of the emergence'.
PC Seu, who is black, said he had regularly been subjected to racist abuse and had never lost his temper with a suspect. PC Sculthorpe, another officer at the scene, said at the hospital SC subjected PC Seu to a torrent of racist abuse and refused to be treated by a black nurse. Body-worn camera footage showed SC saying it was 'f****** disgusting what you had done to me' and that police had 'rammed his head into the floor'.
Panel findings and outcome
The disciplinary panel described PC Seu as a 'person of good character' but said he 'was not a credible witness' because he gave 'varying accounts' of the incident. These discrepancies included his claims that SC, who was later convicted of racially aggravated harassment in connection with an incident from that night, was 'unbearable' inside the flat, despite footage initially showing him to be 'fully compliant'. PC Seu also claimed SC's behaviour in the van was 'escalating', but body-worn footage showed SC sitting 'still and silent' when the door was opened.
The panel said that while PC Seu did not necessarily intend to injure SC, he should have foreseen the 'significant risk of serious harm'. His 'totally reckless' actions amounted to gross misconduct, leading to his dismissal without notice and placement on the College of Policing's barred list.
