A ‘lazy’ police officer Tasered a suspected burglar before he fell to the ground leaving him in a wheelchair, a court has been told.
Leonard Sandiford was running away from police in Woodford Green, east London, when he reached a cul-de-sac and climbed onto a shed.
While on top of the shed, Mr Sandiford was Tasered by Metropolitan Police Constable Liam Newman, 31, causing him to fall to the ground, seriously injuring himself.
Jurors previously heard that Mr Sandiford fell ‘uncontrolled’ from almost six feet and suffered a spinal injury that left him tetraplegic and reliant on a wheelchair.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court was told it was ‘lazy policing’ and that he only fired the Taser because ‘he did not want to chase after him’.
Newman, who denies grievous bodily harm, told the jurors he thought there was a high chance Mr Sandiford was carrying a weapon and believed he was ‘protecting myself and protecting others’.
In his interview read to jurors, PC Newman said he and colleague PC Colin Searle were called to a Coral bookies in Chigwell Road to reports of ‘loud banging’ in an apparent break-in at 5am on April 24, 2022.
Prosecutor Irshad Sheikh said the defendant fired not because he feared for his own safety or for anyone else’s, but just to stop Mr Sandiford from getting away, adding that the use of the Taser was unreasonable and unlawful.
PC Liam Newman, 31, (pictured) denies grievous bodily harm against Leonard Sandiford, who was seriously injured when he fell to the ground after being Tasered
Bodycam footage shows the moment PC Liam Newman fires his Taser at Leonard Sandiford
Mr Sandiford fell from a shed after the Taser was fired for a second time
Defence counsel Kevin Baumber said Newman’s ‘motivation is one of public service’ and he was acting with legitimate aims.
Mr Baumber said Newman had no personal stake in the events of the night, no vendetta and had nothing to gain.
Newman’s body-worn camera was switched on, and Mr Baumber told the jury they would have to consider whether he was trying to do his job ‘in good faith’.
The police constable said: ‘My justification is this person is as high risk as he can be.
‘My honest-held belief at the time from the previous incident further down the road is that he’s willing to… in my opinion, he’s trying to kill me, he’s trying to hurt me, he’s trying to seriously harm me.’
After a chase, Mr Sandiford was Tasered and fell from a height of 5ft to 6ft, sustaining an injury to his spinal cord.
He is now tetraplegic and uses a wheelchair, Mr Sheikh told jurors previously.
Body-worn video footage was played to the jury, which showed Mr Sandiford moving across the outbuilding with his back to the camera, and the Taser being pointed and activated, before Mr Sandiford disappears from view.
Newman said he thought Mr Sandiford was ‘on a level, flat, not particularly high surface’ that he estimated to be about 2ft above the ground when he discharged his Taser.
PC Newman told the court he had feared for his own life, as well as the well being of his colleague and local residents
The court heard the officer saw what he believed to be a platform where Mr Sandiford would fall once Tasered, which he now knows to be a shed.
‘At the time, I didn’t see he was at the height that I now know he was at,’ Newman said.
He denied the prosecution’s claim that he ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to chase Mr Sandiford and he ‘did have concern for his safety’.
The police officer told jurors that he had ‘no knowledge’ of Mr Sandiford but it was common for weapons, including acid or screwdrivers, to be carried by burglars.
After being called to Chigwell Road, the two officers approached a white Ford van driven by Mr Sandiford and cut it off as it approached a side road, the court was told earlier in the trial.
The officers tried to stop the vehicle and Newman used his baton to strike at the driver’s side, opened the driver’s door and tried to pull Mr Sandiford out, the court heard.
Newman said it was his ‘honest belief’ Mr Sandiford was ‘trying to run me over’ during the incident but that he now accepts this was not the case.
Mr Sandiford previously told the court he had run from the officers because he had been ‘spooked’ after seeing a truncheon and a Taser.
The jury has been sent home and will resume deliberations on Tuesday at 10am.
