A man who suffered a cardiac arrest after being Tasered by police has said officers should be banned from using the stun guns after a court ruled he was the victim of excessive force.
James McCarthy won a judgment on Tuesday that Merseyside police acted unlawfully when they fired an electrical current into his body for 11 seconds, leaving him motionless on the ground and suffering cardiac arrest.
McCarthy was not prosecuted over the incident that led to the police intervention at a Liverpool hotel in 2012, when he was 23.
During the incident McCarthy was Tasered twice. Manchester county court found that Merseyside police acted unlawfully the second time he was Tasered because the 11-second duration of the charge was too long.
The court also found police acted negligently because they were too slow to get help for the injured man and knew the potential risk of cardiac arrest for someone who had been Tasered.
McCarthy says that as a result of the incident he still suffers from memory loss. He had to stop running a joinery business because he could no longer remember the skills he had learned.
He told the Guardian his life had been ruined: “It’s been terrible, the worst time of my life. It caused many problems, blackouts, anxiety, depression. I have had to rebuild relationships with my friends and family. The Taser was 100% responsible for that.”
He added: “I don’t think police should have Tasers. They do kill and cause cardiac arrest; they should be banned.”
McCarthy said of the victory in court: “It means I have had justice and might mean others can get justice.”
A further hearing will establish damages and the extent to which the police assault and negligence were to blame for McCarthy’s injuries.
His solicitor said the judgment was the first in the country to blame police for negligence after use of a Taser. Merseyside police said they would consider an appeal. Police chiefs nationally will study the judgment to see whether courts are starting to have greater doubts about Taser use, or whether the criticisms were specific to this case.
The judge, Darryl Allen QC, said the officer was right to fire the Taser the first time, and hence that use was lawful. He also ruled that the officer acted lawfully in deciding to fire the Taser at McCarthy a second time. But it amounted to an assault because of the length of time a shock was inflicted on McCarthy, he ruled.
“I find that the force used, namely the uninterrupted 11-second discharge, was unreasonable, excessive and disproportionate to the threat posed by the claimant,” the judgment says.
After McCarthy was Tasered a second time he fell to the ground and was motionless. The judge found police owed him a duty of care, but instead left him for two-and-a-half minutes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I find that it was reasonably foreseeable that failure to monitor and respond to the claimant’s condition following Taser 2 might result in personal injury to the claimant,” the court said in its judgment.
The use of Tasers by police in England and Wales is controversial. Critics say they are dangerous and point to other incidents where they have been linked to injury or death. Police say they are a crucial method for officers to defend themselves and safer than using firearms.
Tasers deliver a 50,000-volt shock to incapacitate people. They have been linked to at least 10 deaths in England and Wales over the past decade. In 2013 Jordan Lee Begley, 23, died two hours after a Greater Manchester officer targeted him with a stun gun at his home after police were called to reports of an argument.
Sophie Khan, the solicitor representing McCarthy, said: “This is the first case in the country where the police have been held liable for negligence after the use of Taser. It is hoped that the police will learn from this judgment that Tasers are dangerous and cause life-threatening injuries.
“My client suffered a cardiac arrest at the scene and now suffers from permanent memory loss due to the delay in commencing emergency paramedic care. The use of Tasers needs to be curbed to prevent any incident like this happening again.”
The incident happened after officers were called to reports of a group of men fighting at a Premier Inn in Albert Dock at around 2.50am on 30 September last year.
Merseyside police confirmed that McCarthy had not been charged over the incident and that the officers involved had not faced any disciplinary action. The Independent Police Complaints Commission found that the firing of a Taser into McCarthy for 11 seconds was reasonable.
A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs Council said: “Our Taser guidance is continuously reviewed, as with all police policy and guidance, and we will look at the findings of this case in due course.”
