Officer guilty of pepper spraying father hanging from high-rise building in Southwark avoids jail
Video from the IOPC
A Metropolitan Police officer who left a father fearing for his life by pepper spraying him as he climbed down a high-rise block of flats to escape arrest has avoided jail.
Pc Luke Wenham, 31, forced entry into Carl Cumberbatch’s flat on the 12th floor of Albert Barnes House in Southwark, south London, to arrest him on suspicion of robbery in August last year.
But when Mr Cumberbatch climbed out of the window and scaled down a drainpipe using one hand, Wenham reached out and squirted him with the spray, causing him to lose his footing momentarily.
Mr Cumberbatch managed to reach the balcony of another flat on the seventh floor, where Wenham sprayed him again as he climbed over the railing and continued down the roughly 15-floor building, using the PAVA incapacitant spray he took from a colleague as his was empty.
Wenham was told by a district judge he avoided a custodial sentence because his actions were not a “deliberate or malicious use of power”, despite Scotland Yard saying his response was “completely disproportionate”.
He had been found guilty of two counts of common assault last month following an investigation by police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Louisa Cieciora, sentencing, handed him a one-year community order at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, meaning he will carry out 15 days of rehabilitation activities, wear an electronic tag for three months and do 100 hours of unpaid work.
Ms Cieciora said: “The victim was obviously vulnerable due to the location at the time of the assault.”
She went on: “Police do have an obligation to protect members of the public and you failed to do so on this occasion.”
Mr Cumberbatch claimed in a statement read to the court the incident left him “scared of the police”, leading to nightmares about him falling.
He went on: “My son could have been left without a dad, my family would have been without me.”
The victim added: “It feels like they tried to kill me.”
Ms Cieciora did not accept Mr Cumberbatch’s account of the physical injuries he received.
Guy Ladenburg, defending, said the victim only suffered “minor physical and psychological harm”.
He described Wenham, who has a 14-month-old daughter, as a “determined and diligent” public servant who “sincerely wants the best for the public”.
Mr Ladenburg said Wenham, who had “poor judgment in a high-risk” situation, has accepted he will likely lose his job as a result of the conviction.
IOPC director Steve Noonan said after Wenham’s conviction: “The national guidance on PAVA spray lists some of the most common reactions on being exposed to it, including the individual moving their hands to their face, their legs becoming weak and temporary blindness.
“It is clear that in spraying the man twice at considerable heights, Pc Wenham exposed him to the genuine risk he may have lost his grip on the pipe and fallen, which would have likely had fatal consequences.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh of the Metropolitan Police, said: “It is clear in this case that not only was Pc Wenham’s response completely disproportionate to the situation he faced but also, by doing what he did, he put a member of public at risk of harm.
“Pc Wenham has let down not only himself but many hardworking police colleagues who strive to improve trust and confidence with our communities.”
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