The jury in the trial of two police officers who Pava-sprayed and tasered a 92-year-old amputee while responding to a call at his care home has retired to begin deliberations.
Pc Stephen Smith, 51, and Pc Rachel Comotto, 36, faced trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of using excessive force on Donald Burgess during an incident at Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, in June 2022.
The care home had called 999 after Mr Burgess, a single-leg amputee and wheelchair user, reportedly grabbed a knife and threatened to stab staff.
Judge Christopher Hehir, summarising the evidence on Wednesday, told jurors: “The reason for his behaviour that day, we now know, is that he was delirious as a result of a urinary tract infection.”
Smith sprayed synthetic Pava pepper spray into Mr Burgess’s face and struck his wrist with a baton, with Comotto deploying her Taser, all within a minute and 23 seconds of entering the wheelchair-bound pensioner’s room.
Smith denies two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for his use of Pava spray and for using a baton, whilst Comotto denies one count related to her use of a Taser on Mr Burgess.
Judge Hehir asked jurors to retire and consider their verdicts on Wednesday, adding they should reach their decision “with their heads, not their hearts”.
Prosecutors say the force used against Mr Burgess, who had been reportedly waving the serrated cutlery knife around and telling staff he would “take pleasure” in murdering them, was “unjustified and unlawful” given his age and physical condition.
Mr Burgess was taken to hospital after the incident and later contracted Covid.
He died 22 days later aged 93.
Smith previously told jurors he did not see that Mr Burgess was disabled and using a wheelchair as he was focused on the knife the pensioner was holding in his hand.
During his evidence, he denied emptying a full can of Pava in Mr Burgess’s face, saying it was “a short burst”.
He also denied hitting Mr Burgess with a baton, claiming he instead flicked the baton towards the pensioner’s wrist to “knock the knife out” of his hand.
During her evidence, Comotto said she believed using the Taser was the safest way to “protect” Mr Burgess as she feared her colleague using the baton again would cause more harm.
“I’m not a trigger-happy officer,” she told jurors.
“It’s the first time I’ve fired my Taser.”
