A former High Wycombe police officer has been labelled a “bully” after he was found to have “lost control” when he violently arrested a suspect.

Former PC Lewis Kent was found to have committed gross misconduct at a hearing at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, today (Wednesday).

While he was arresting a suspect on June 18 last year, Mr Kent pushed the suspect to the ground while he was handcuffed, threatened to taser him and later threatened to give him “one in the ribs” if he didn’t co-operate.

The panel heard that Mr Kent was already subject to a final written warning when the incident took place, after he was caught on camera swearing at a member of the public outside High Wycombe Police Station in 2020.

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Finding Mr Kent guilty of gross misconduct, legally qualified chairperson Harry Ireland said: “There was use of excessive force and a loss of self-control.”

“The threat to punch the detainee in the ribs was an act of bullying and unnecessary in the circumstances.”

Mr Kent, who resigned from the force in September 2021, failed to attend the hearing and was not represented during proceedings.

Prosecuting, barrister Barney Branston outlined the case against Mr Kent to the panel before showing them the officer’s bodycam footage from the incident, which took place in Southall, London at around midnight.

The footage showed Mr Kent bring the suspect to the ground face first while he had his hands handcuffed behind his back.

The panel was told how the suspect was being arrested on suspicion of drink driving and assault. The assault charge was dropped, but the man did later fail a breathalyser test.

The video showed that while the suspect was on the ground, Mr Kent threatened him, saying “do you want to be tasered?”

About 20 minutes later, when the suspect was in the back of a police van, Mr Kent told the victim he would “get one in the ribs” if he did not calm down.

Earlier in the footage, after he had been taken to the ground, the suspect called Mr Kent a “coward.”

Closing the evidence, Mr Branstone said: “What we see shows that this is a gentleman who cannot control his temper and cannot remain a member of this force.

“There’s a fine line between controlling a member of the public who is being difficult and overstepping the line and going too far, and this officer has gone too far.”

After considering the evidence, the panel found that Mr Kent had committed gross misconduct, and would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned.

Giving his verdict, Mr Ireland said: “The detainee was under the control of the officer, he was verbally challenging the officer but not proffering violence.

 “He unnecessarily took the detainee to the floor a second time, the threat to use the taser was gratuitous and clearly outside guidelines, he was not under any threat and nor was his colleague.

“The actions took place when the officer had recently been given a final written warning. There was an abuse of powers with unnecessary threats and use of force.

At the end of the hearing, Mr Kent was added to the College of Policing barred list, meaning he will no longer be able to serve as a police officer on any force.