Officers were not justified in using "excessive force" when arresting a man in Hastings last year, the police watchdog has ruled.
The man had run from a suspicious car containing a rifle. The vehicle had been stopped by officers. He was later found hiding inside a skip bin on a construction site.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) conducted an investigation after police notified it of the incident. It disagreed with the findings of a police investigation which found the force justified.
The incident unfolded on January 18, 2021. The IPCA detailed how a police dog handler had tracked the man, who was hiding in a skip bin in a fenced-off area in a construction site. During the arrest, police pepper sprayed the man twice.
Several officers lifted a section of the fence to arrest the man, who then began to lie face down on the ground.
The IPCA noted one of the officer's jumped onto the man’s back, pinning him to the ground with his knee.
The man held his arms under his body to prevent the officer from handcuffing him. The officer punched him several times to get him to release his arms.
The man was left with serious injuries including a punctured right lung, fractured ribs, a fractured neck vertebrate, and a cut on his scalp.
The police watchdog found there were enough officers present to deal with the man's resistance and a "low likelihood of the perceived risk" - officers thought he may have had a weapon - meant the level of force used by the police was ultimately unreasonable.
IPCA chairman Judge Colin Doherty said: "We accept Officer A thought Mr X might have had a concealed weapon on him. However, in this case, we find the risk of that was low, and not imminent.
"The officer caused significant injuries, and the degree of force employed was disproportionate to the risk Mr X posed by his actions in kneeling or lying down."
Acting Eastern District Commander Inspector Andrew Sloan said the man posed a "serious threat" to police safety and force was necessary to control the situation.
"When first challenged by police the offender fled from a vehicle in which a firearm was located and officers were rightly concerned he was carrying a second, concealed weapon.
"The man, wanted for a series of serious offences across multiple districts, went to great lengths to evade police and repeatedly failed to comply with officers' instructions."
However, Sloan said the man's injuries were "regrettable".
Sloan said the man was found guilty on a charge of resisting arrest.
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