A Greater Manchester Police officer has received a written warning after telling a colleague that a pensioner who later died in hospital following a suspected assault had 'brought it on himself a little bit'. PC Gary Knight was the subject of a misconduct hearing after his dealings with the man in June 2024, with papers summarising the force's findings published this week.
Response to the incident
The panel was told a report that the man had been assaulted was made between 11.10pm and 11.41pm. On arrival, PC Knight was told the man had 'fallen backwards and hit his head'. The officer contacted GMP control and said: "[The man]'s got a nasty whack to the back of his head and a cut on his cheek that matches up to falling over - believe he has been intoxicated and stumbled over to the wrong address - ambulance on scene."
The panel heard it transpired PC Knight had previously encountered the man in November 2023, after he appeared 'drunk and having suffered a blackout, cuts and bruising, and having to be helped home by a member of the public'. He considered the man was 'particularly vulnerable', it was said. But PC Knight failed to get an account from the man - or the person who had reported an assault - on how he was injured, and did not take steps to secure or obtain forensic evidence at the scene.
Officer's comments and outcome
"I don't think he's only fallen," PC Knight told a colleague. "I think he's brought it on himself a little bit." The panel heard PC Knight said 'force' was used against the man, 'in part' caused by him 'attending or trying to enter the address of a neighbour'. An associated crime report was cancelled after PC Knight said the man confirmed he had fallen over drunk and 'mistakenly attended an address which he believed to be that of his friend'.
The man later told paramedics in the back of an ambulance: "I didn't fall over, they threw me on the floor." The man, the panel was told, later died in hospital. A post mortem established he suffered a scalp laceration; multiple fractured ribs, which lacerated a lung; a collapsed lung and hemothorax; and a fractured cheekbone. "All of which was consistent with blunt force trauma," GMP papers read.
Panel findings
The panel said there was no suggestion PC Knight's actions in any way contributed to the man's death, or that 'any other course of action the officer may have taken would have saved [his] life'. He was given a written warning - which will be on his record for 18 months - having been told by GMP chiefs he should have taken the man aside and asked him how he was injured, and investigated the third-party report of the incident.
"His actions fell short of what was reasonably expected of an officer in the prevailing circumstances and as a result, the incident was not investigated as thoroughly as it ought to have been," GMP papers read. "PC Knight did not deliberately set out to avoid his professional responsibilities and overall his focus was on safeguarding [the man] due to his vulnerability."
The officer, whose actions were deemed by force bosses to have amounted to misconduct, accepted he should have 'responded differently'. PC Knight said he 'acted in good faith and relied on his understanding of the facts and his previous dealings with [the man]'. He said he developed a 'one-track mind as a result of his previous dealing' with the man and that his main concern was getting him medical treatment.
