Two police officers are facing charges of assault after allegedly using excessive force on a 92-year-old amputee in a care home — including pepper spray, a baton, and a taser — just 83 seconds after entering his room.
PC Stephen Smith, 51, and PC Rachel Comotto, 36, are accused of assaulting Donald Burgess, a wheelchair user, during a June 2022 incident at Park Beck care home in East Sussex.
The officers were responding to reports that Burgess had threatened staff with a cutlery knife and shouted that he would kill them.
Jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard that Smith deployed an entire canister of Pava spray directly into Burgess’s face and struck him with a baton, while Comotto discharged her taser.
Burgess was hospitalized following the encounter and died 22 days later at the age of 93 after contracting COVID-19.
