G20 protest case prompts mild police criticism

Thursday, 17 June 2010 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

The police watchdog has put forward only minor recommendations for change in its final report on the case of a sergeant who struck a protestor.

Sgt Delroy Smellie was found not guilty in March this year after standing trial at Westminster magistrates' court on a common assault charge.

He had been filmed using a baton to twice strike 23-year-old Nicola Fisher on April 2nd 2009 during the G20 protests in central London.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission today published its misconduct report into the incident, which concluded there was no further case to answer.

But it recommended that the Metropolitan Police Service should ensure police officers should always have an identifiable and difficult-to-remove shoulder number on view.

And it suggested planned public order deployment shift patterns should be reviewed "to ensure all officers achieve minimum eight-hour rest breaks in order to be in a fit state to perform their duties".

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