Sacked for their lies

Three police officers have been sacked after lying about the condition of a teenager who was left paralysed and brain-damaged in a scuffle outside a nightclub.

Julian Cole, 19, suffered neck injuries and paralysis in a chaotic fracas involving the officers and bouncers outside Elements club in Bedford at around 1.30am on May 6 2013. 

But Hannah Ross, Nicholas Oates and Sanjeev Kalyan falsely claimed he had walked to their police van during his arrest, when in fact his legs were dragging on the ground as he was carried.

His broken neck was only discovered after he had been taken to the van and driven one mile to a police station.

He later went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage. Mr Cole is now in a vegetative state and needs 24-hour care. The trio were sacked after being found guilty of gross misconduct by a panel.

None of the officers were accused of causing the devastating injuries but a panel judged that they conspired to provide false accounts of the victim's condition following the incident.

Sergeant Andrew Withey, who was dealing with aspects of the brawl while Mr Cole was arrested and taken to the vehicle, was found to have breached the code of conduct for failing to carry out vital welfare checks on the injured teenager when he was at the back of the van. He was given a final written warning.

In official statements, PC Ross claimed Mr Cole was moving his legs in the van, onto the back seat and was moving around in the back of the van.

PC Kalyan falsely stated the victim put his trainers on while in the back of the van  and said he told PC Ross he could move his lower half when asked by the officer.

PC Oates even claimed the victim walked to the van, and was asked to pull his legs in so the doors could be shut.





MailOnline