A former police inspector has given evidence at his misconduct hearing, following an incident where he punched a member of the public.
Former Lincolnshire Police Inspector Jonathan Mellor, is alleged to have breached Standards of Professional Behaviour which are use of force, discreditable conduct and authority, respect and courtesy, during the incident on May 26, 2021.
His misconduct hearing began today (Tuesday, January 7) at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, and is expected to conclude tomorrow (January 8).
Lincolnshire Police. Stock image
The former inspector is said to have used deliberate force, and that his conduct was disrespectful, abusive and threatening while speaking with a member of the public, Mr Price, on the A46 between Newark and Lincoln.
The incident occurred while Mr Mellor was acting as duty inspector for the West of Lincolnshire on a 1pm to 11pm shift, and was travelling between Grantham — where he was ordinarily based — and Lincoln police stations to carry out custody checks.
He was covering a larger area than normal, due to another inspector’s absence, and admitted he had been a ‘bit annoyed’ by this as he was not aware it would be the case prior to turning up to work that day.
At the time of the incident, around 8.40pm, Mr Mellor was about 10 minutes away from the Lincoln station, with around 25 minutes left on the clock to carry out the custody check there.
Mobile phone footage was captured by Mr Price’s wife from the passenger seat of his vehicle was shown at the hearing. It showed Mr Mellor, dressed in a civilian black jacket over his police uniform, and Mr Price speaking at the side of the road, before moving to a grass verge the other side of the vehicles.
There, Mr Price is held against a fence for a period, before a punch is thrown at his head by Mr Mellor, who then also stamps on Mr Price’s already injured foot when he moves away from the fence before getting him to the ground and holding him down. Once Mr Price showed no sign of struggling and remained lying on the ground, Mr Mellor backed away and retrieved handcuffs from the car, but did not use them.
They had pulled over as Mr Price had indicated for Mr Mellor, who was in his personal vehicle rather than a police vehicle, to do so, believing Mr Mellor had taken a picture of him on his phone while driving.
Mr Mellor — who has more than 30 years policing experience — today gave evidence and answered questions from Lincolnshire Police’s counsel and the panel.
He said his police experience included roles as a hostage crisis negotiator — with core skills of threat assessment and communication — a public order co-ordinator, public order tactical advisor, and as a counter terrorism search advisor, among others. He retired in July 2022, shortly after he was acquitted of common assault, relating to the incident, at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.
He repeatedly stated that he stands by his actions three years later, and believed it was an appropriate use of force. He stated he had not taken a phone nor used his phone at any point, and it was secured in his kit bag in the passenger footwell.
Regarding his civilian jacket which hid his uniform, he explained it was standard advice to prevent officers’ personal vehicles being identified due to them driving in uniform, and said he had introduced himself as an officer to Mr Price — but despite admitting to it being ‘best practice’, had not shown his warrant card as his hands were full.
Mr Mellor said he had noticed Mr Price’s van before he was indicated at to pull over, having seen it ‘meandering’ between lanes ahead of him. He said he “wasn’t really intending on doing anything” and just wanted to get past, but it had crossed his mind the driver could be intoxicated or distracted.
He had also sounded his horn at Mr Price on a roundabout, when he said the vehicle had drifted into the lane his own car was occupying. However, he had then successfully overtaken and was quite a way ahead before Mr Price caught up and asked for him to pull over, he explained.
Once they had pulled over, Mr Mellor said his main concern had been for the safety of Mr Price, himself, and Mr Price’s wife in the vehicle, due to where he had chosen to pull over — and said this is why he had put his hands on Mr Price to move him away from the road, first attempting to guide him, before pushing him towards the verge and the fence to “make sure we’re not getting squashed”.
He knew he was being filmed at the time, as Mr Price had made him aware.
Mr Mellor described Mr Price as ‘Mr Shouty, Mr Aggressive’ coming at him, and said: “For the first time in my career I thought if he took off I might struggle to control him… I’m 30 years older, fatter, and he’s a strong bloke.
“I’ve got to control where he is, he’s a threat to himself, he’s a threat to me. I was hoping I could get him to come down a notch or two and then I could come down a notch or two, and we could have a conversation.”
He added that it was the only time in his career he had pushed the emergency button on his radio to call for urgent backup.
Mr Price was also seen on the video putting a hand into his pocket, which Mr Mellor highlighted as a further concern, as he didn’t know what he had in the pocket, and pushing Mr Mellor’s hand off his shoulder.
The former officer justified the punch to the head — which he said was a distraction strike rather than full strength — despite it being a ‘red’ risk zone, as it was the only area available to him in the situation and he felt he needed to gain control of a situation where Mr Price was going to “snap in a minute” and was increasing in anger.
He added: “The only other options I had were to shove him over the fence or knock him out.”
Similarly, he said the stamp to the foot Mr Price had previously told him was injured was a fair tactic to use to help bring him to the floor. Both techniques, he confirmed, were taught to police officers as part of defence training.
He said the scuffle prior to him successfully taking Mr Price to the floor was ‘not his proudest moment’ as he had lost control of the situation.
When he was questioned on why he decided to stop despite not being recognisable as a police officer at the time, Mr Mellor said it could have been a variety of reasons he was asked to pull over, and explained he felt that as a serving officer it was right to stop and see what was going on.
Jennifer Ferrario, chairman of the hearing, said: “Why were you so interested in getting control of him… why did you not just say listen, I’m a police officer and I’m going to go now, if you have any concerns call the police station?”
He said did not leave when it became clear Mr Price was angry because he didn’t want to turn his back on a threat, and didn’t know if Mr Price would carry out a ‘reverse police chase’ and follow him through Lincoln where he would potentially put other motorists at risk.
He admitted the outcome and his actions would have been different had it not been a dangerous roadside area where he felt he had to control the situation to the same extent, and that in hindsight it would have been better to find a safer area to pull over.
However, setting out its case, Lincolnshire Police described Mr Mellor as the ‘aggressor’ in the incident.
Liz Briggs, counsel for the police, said: “The appropriate authority [police force] would say the footage shows the officer exits the vehicle wearing a black jacket which is not a police issue jacket. No other clearly police issued clothing is visible.
“His radio is quickly put in his pocket and he doesn’t appear to identify himself as a police officer.”
The hearing heard a statement from Mr Price which said he believed Mr Mellor to be a security guard based on his appearance.
Ms Briggs suggested Mr Price’s behaviour could be construed as ‘calm’ as he put his hands in his pockets while against the fence and ‘didn’t appear to be struggling’. He is heard repeatedly asking the officer to take his hands off him, and when pinned on the floor, Mr Price shouted that he ‘can’t breathe’ — although Mr Mellor denied that Mr Price had any issues breathing and noted it was shortly after George Floyd’s death in America.
“Mr Price is moving away… it is the officer who persists in closing the physical gap,” Ms Briggs added.
Additionally, she stated Mr Mellor ‘immediately’ puts his hands on Mr Price after getting out of his car, and swears multiple times including saying “I will f***ing take you down” to Mr Price before he tries to get him to the floor.
It was said the authority’s position was that the conduct was not ‘reasonable, necessary, or proportional’.
While questioning Mr Mellor, Ms Briggs suggested he “didn’t look particularly calm” from the beginning of the footage, and said: “You’re angry because you’re late, you’re angry because you had to stop, you’re angry because you’ve been accused of something you didn’t do [taking a photo of Mr Price].”
Mr Mellor did not accept these claims, and asserted that he had been calm and Mr Price aggressive.
He added: “I feel I am the victim here, I’m not the aggressor and I’m not the offender.”
The panel, made up of chairman Jennifer Ferrario, ACC Nikki Mayo, and independent panel member Ian Crawford, is expected to retire mid-morning tomorrow to reach a verdict.