PC Joshua Savage faces four offences over a filmed incident involving the stop and search on the driver of a Ford Fiesta last September which was widely shared online.
The dramatic footage, which was shared on social media and across the mainstream press, shows a stop and search of the driver of a Ford Fiesta by two police officers on Vicars Road on September 16 2016.
When the driver, 25-year-old Liam Fontana, refused to leave the vehicle, one officer can be heard shouting: “Get out the car, get out, you’re not allowed to drive it.”
He is then seen repeatedly striking the vehicle’s windows before sawing at it with a blade.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) decision to level the charges against PC Savage follows an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
That investigation, which was completed last month, was sparked by a complaint from the vehicle’s driver into the conduct of the officers.
The IPCC decided on Tuesday, March 14, to authorise charges against PC Savage of common assault, possession of a bladed article, criminal damage and threatening behaviour.
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