Officer hit autistic man with baton, court hears

A former police officer left a man bleeding from the head after hitting him with a baton during an arrest, a court has heard.

Shaun Elliott, 53, is on trial accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following the incident at Buxton Police Station in Derbyshire on 30 December 2022.

On Monday, prosecutors told the first day of the trial that the former Derbyshire Police officer had struck the man, who was autistic and had cerebral palsy, in the back of a police van while attempting a search.

A video played to jurors at Derby Crown Court on Monday showed the man screaming "I want to go home" while blood ran down his face.

The court heard the man had gone to the police station to ask for help with a letter he had received.

After officers in a back office ran his details through their systems, they came to the building's foyer to arrest him.

Philip Cowburn, prosecuting, said the man became upset and asked to phone his mother before officers started to handcuff him.

Bodyworn camera footage showed he fell to the floor and a number of officers, who came to help with the arrest, pinned him down.

The man banged his head against the base of the front desk and screamed for his inhaler, which he was given by one of the officers.

A police van was brought to the front of the building and the man was lifted into the back.

He was screaming that he could not stand and was unable to straighten one of his legs.

The defendant could be heard telling him he was "shouting like a girl".

The man was then searched, and was seen to bang his head off the floor of the van.

A different angle showed Elliott rolling his eyes and shaking his head while the search took place before he took hold of the man himself.

The defendant was heard shouting "behave" as the man again banged his head against the van.

The footage played to the jury showed other officers closing the van door behind Elliott and another colleague, at which point he extended his baton and raised it above his head.

Prosecutors said the man started screaming in "terror" before the defendant was seen bringing the weapon down on the man's head once.

Elliott said "never bite an officer" and the man was heard shouting "I didn't bite him".

The video footage showed blood starting to drip down his face and him shouting "I want to go home".

Officers started to apply first aid and put a bandage on the wound, which was located just above his left eye. The man then started to wretch and was sick, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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