Police Ombudsman rejects bin handcuffing claim

The Police Ombudsman on Wednesday reported its findings into the north Belfast incident, which had taken place last September.

The probe said that video footage of the incident did not support the complainant’s version of events.

The man, who had been stopped by police under the Justice and Security Act, said that an officer had pushed him against the door of his car, forced his forearm against his throat, and threatened him.

The man also claimed that the officer was hostile towards him and threatened him.

When interviewed by a Police Ombudsman investigator, the officer denied the allegations.

He claimed to have behaved “professionally towards the man at all times”, and his colleagues supported his account of the incident.

CCTV evidence recorded from a police Land Rover was also examined.

The ombudsman said that while the beginning of the incident was not captured, footage showed the man’s hands had been cuffed behind his back, and not to a bin.

The ombudsman also said that the footage did not back up the claim that the arresting police officer had been hostile.

Attempts to identify two witnesses seen on the CCTV footage were unsuccessful.

The ombudsman said that “in the absence of any further evidence, the investigator concluded that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the man’s allegation that he had been assaulted by the officer”.