Met officer denies ‘grabbing teenager by throat’ after boy insulted him

A Met Police officer grabbed a teenager around the throat and threw him to the ground after the boy called him a “fat arse”, a misconduct hearing has heard.

Pc Stephen Evans allegedly assaulted the then-13-year-old on November 4 2022 after a disagreement during which the boy said “have a nice life, fat arse”, the hearing was told.

Pc Evans, who is based within the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Team, has denied the allegations.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons and was referred to as Witness A, said the officer had taken him “by the throat” and “thrown” him onto his back on a concrete driveway which had hurt the back of his head.

Thom Dyke, a barrister representing the Metropolitan Police, said: “The allegation is Pc Evans reacted angrily, essentially losing his temper, grabbing Witness A around the throat with both of his hands.”

Mr Dyke said that Pc Evans said he had grabbed the boy’s lapels instead and that his actions were “both reasonable and proportionate”.

Giving evidence to the hearing in west London on Wednesday, Witness A said: “He stood over me and leant down and was yelling at me for calling him a fat arse.”

The witness said that when he was on the ground, Pc Evans poked him “hard” with his finger around four or five times.

Asked by Ashraf Khan, representing Pc Evans, how “hard” the officer had grabbed him by the throat, the teenager said: “Pretty hard, I could breathe with minimal difficulties but it was enough to move me where he wanted to.”

Mr Khan asked: “When you called him a ‘fat arse’, he held you by the lapels of your coat, didn’t he?”

“No,” the teenager replied.

“He didn’t grab you by your throat, did he?” Mr Khan asked.

“He did,” the witness replied.

Mr Dyke said the incident lasted around 10 minutes and resulted in “no visible injuries” to the teenager.

If the panel finds the allegations to be true, Pc Evans will be found in breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

The conduct would amount to gross misconduct and could justify his dismissal, the Met Police said.

The hearing continues.

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