Police chief ordered to pay £12,000 after officer broke man's little finger on Christmas night out

The chief constable of Police Scotland has been ordered to pay £12,000 to a man who was “assaulted” by one of her officers.

Sheriff Robert Fife ordered Jo Farrell to pay the sum to the man following an incident in Glasgow city centre on December 21, 2018.

The All Scotland Personal Injury Court heard how the man had been on a Christmas night out with colleagues before coming into contact with PCs Nathan Donnelly and Dominic Horn.

The court heard that the officers believed the victim was involved in an argument with another group of people outside the Blue Dog bar on West Regent Street.

Sheriff Fife heard how the police officers tried to de-escalate the situation.

They took the man over to a group of railings and asked him for his personal details as they concluded he had committed a breach of the peace.

The man disagreed as he believed he had done nothing wrong and refused to provide the information they asked him for.

The court heard that the man was then told he was being placed under arrest.

He then started to resist the officers who struggled to restrain him. They described his resistance as like a man who was displaying “superhuman” strength.

The court heard that the man grabbed hold of the railings behind him with his right hand.

This prompted PC Donnelly to grab and pull the pursuer’s right little finger, causing it to break.

Lawyers for the man believed their client had been subjected to unlawful action. They launched a compensation claim at the court earlier this year against the chief constable of Police Scotland.

The court heard evidence that the move used by PC Donnelly on the man’s finger was not a recognised tactic used by police in restraining people.

Sheriff Fife agreed and awarded the man £12,000 in compensation.

In a written judgment published by the court, Sheriff Fife wrote about how he was unimpressed by some of PC Donnelly’s evidence to the court.

He wrote: “I had some difficulty with the evidence of PC Donnelly. At times, I formed an unfavourable impression of his answers to questions. PC Donnelly was an inexperienced officer in December 2018, but purported to be more experienced.

“At times, he came across as being arrogant and dismissive. PC Donnelly demonstrated, by use of a court microphone, how he had grabbed the fingers of the right hand of the pursuer to remove the pursuer’s hand from the railings.

“This all seemed to be theatrical and unnecessary.

“In my view, PC Donnelly deliberately targeted the pursuer’s right little finger, pulling the little finger all the way back and in so doing breaking the little finger.

“PC Donnelly made no attempt at all to grab any of the pursuer’s other fingers on the right hand in order to remove the right hand from the railings.”

Sheriff Fife added: “PC Donnelly failed to use a recognised Operational Safety Training technique to remove the pursuer’s right hand from the railings.

“The use of force by PC Donnelly by pulling back the pursuer’s right little finger, causing a fracture, was not reasonable.

“PC Donnelly assaulted the pursuer.

“I will grant decree against the defender for payment to the pursuer in the sum of £12,000.”

Police Scotland has been contacted for comment.