A Suffolk police officer has told a misconduct hearing he did not intend to hurt the man whom he kicked and hit with a Taser during an arrest in Lowestoft.
PC Samuel Robinson, who was based at Lowestoft Police Station at the time of the incident, faces a police misconduct panel following an encounter with a man at a storage facility on June 1, 2021.
The officer admits swearing at Mr A, kicking him, and striking him four times to the back of the head with a Taser during the arrest, causing injuries consistent with grievous bodily harm.
However, he denies that his use of force amounted to misconduct or gross misconduct.
The officer was acquitted by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of unlawful wounding inflicting grievous bodily harm in December 2024, although the misconduct panel has said it is "not concerned with the outcome of criminal proceedings".
Giving evidence on the opening day of the hearing in Ipswich, PC Robinson said he deployed force because he believed Mr A posed a threat of violence as he was alleged to have been carrying a metal pole.
He told the hearing that a Taser deployment had not been effective and said he delivered strikes to Mr A's head to create an opportunity for colleagues to handcuff him. He said a kick was intended to roll Mr A over and make him easier to restrain.
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Body-cam footage shown during the hearing showed Mr A bleeding from his head, and PC Robinson's arms coated with his blood.
"I don't go out to hurt anyone," PC Robinson told the panel. "I didn't want anything bad to happen to him."
However, the Appropriate Authority, which is presenting the case against the officer, challenged his account throughout the afternoon.
The Counsel suggested Mr A was not a threat when officers arrived and argued that PC Robinson unnecessarily escalated the situation by deciding to conduct an arrest, which Mr A had not been informed of.
The hearing was told the officer had received training warning that the head is a sensitive area that should be avoided and that force should be reassessed before being repeated.
During cross-examination, PC Robinson accepted he was "too close" when he deployed his Taser and agreed that he had made a "conscious decision" to strike Mr A in the head while he was on all fours.
The hearing continues before panel chair Nicholas Davison and is expected to last all week.
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