Justin Ko’s youth client was acquitted of assault on an emergency worker.
Justin Ko represented a 16-year-old defendant who was acquitted of assault on an emergency worker – a Police Sergeant – following a full-day trial at Willesden Youth Court. He was instructed and assisted by Sean O’Brien and Paul Egunjobi of Powell Spencer & Partners.
It was alleged that the defendant behaved aggressively towards the Sergeant by repeatedly shoving and punching him in the head after the officers entered the defendant’s address under section 17 PACE to arrest the driver of a vehicle who had moments earlier been driving dangerously. The prosecution relied on the body-worn camera footage from multiple officers.
During the trial, Justin challenged the Sergeant’s conduct towards the defendant. In particular, the Sergeant’s decision to aim PAVA spray directly at the defendant’s face immediately upon seeing him at the top of the staircase, and his decision to drag the defendant down the staircase in order to gain access to the upper floor.
Through careful cross-examination, Justin exposed several inconsistencies between the Sergeant’s oral evidence and what was captured on the body-worn footage, including the absence of any support for the Sergeant’s claim that he had “tried his best” to explain his presence at the property, and discrepancies relating to a number of alleged punches. The Sergeant ultimately accepted that the first alleged punch appeared instead to be a defensive swipe by the defendant aimed at knocking away the PAVA spray. The other officer witnesses also conceded that the defendant had thrown only a single punch towards the Sergeant’s head, and that this occurred immediately after he had been sprayed with PAVA.
Justin persuaded the Court that the defendant had genuinely feared for his own safety and that of his mother when the police attended the address, particularly as he did not initially understand the reason for their arrival. Justin further submitted, and the Court accepted, that in light of the Sergeant’s behaviour and dangerous actions, the defendant’s single punch and shoves were reasonable and proportionate responses in the circumstances, and that he had therefore acted in lawful self-defence.
