Two police officers have been sent to prison and a third handed a suspended sentence by a judge who said they took part in “what can only be described as a cover-up” over a colleague’s assault of an innocent man.
The Merseyside constables Garrie Burke, Laura Grant and Lauren Buchanan-Lloyd were sentenced at Liverpool crown court on Thursday after a jury found them guilty of perverting the course of justice.
The three officers had all attended a welfare check at a home in Ainsdale, Sefton, in June 2019, where their colleague, PC Darren McIntyre, punched a man four times in the face and once in the ribs before arresting him.
Burke, 44, of Maghull, and Grant, 36, of Waterloo, were both given 15-month prison sentences by judge David Aubrey QC. Buchanan-Lloyd, 26, of Higher Bebington, who had been a police constable for just five weeks at the time of the offence, was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
McIntyre, 47, of Southport, was also due to be sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice, but the court was told he had been admitted to hospital and his sentencing was adjourned to July.
The victim, Mark Bamber, had initially refused to let the four officers in when they had arrived to carry out a welfare check on his partner, who had called 999 to report feeling suicidal. The court was told that Bamber had previous convictions for domestic violence against her, and that the couple were known to be drinkers with mental health issues.
It was after Bamber let the four constables in that McIntyre assaulted him. Aubrey said a “red mist” had descended on McIntyre and he had repeatedly punched Bamber “in temper and in anger”. Midway through the assault, Burke, Grant and Buchanan-Lloyd turned off their body-worn cameras.
After the attack, the officers described Bamber as being drunk and said he moved his head towards McIntyre as if to head-butt him. But an analysis of bodycam footage revealed Bamber had not done anything wrong.
Aubrey said: “What can only be described as a cover-up took place. It was a cover-up of an unlawful assault, perpetrated by Constable McIntyre upon Mr Bamber.”
All three officers have been suspended and will face gross misconduct proceedings, Merseyside police said. Ian Critchley, deputy chief constable, said: “The public quite rightly have high expectations of police officers and Merseyside police is committed to meeting those expectations by demanding high standards of professionalism, honesty and integrity.”
