Police officer denies assaulting mum who was wrongly arrested over bus fare

14 February 2024 , 13:24

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Police officer denies assaulting mum who was wrongly arrested over bus fare

A police officer has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a woman who was wrongly arrested for bus fare evasion in front of her young son.

Pc Perry Lathwood, 49, is charged with assaulting a woman causing bruising injuries to her arm during the arrest on July 21 last year in Whitehorse Road, Croydon, south London.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard police officers were helping ticket inspectors on a bus in Croydon at the time. The woman was with her young son and was carrying a scooter on the bus, the court was told.

She was “taken hold of by police”, and the incident was recorded by members of the public, it is alleged. She was later de-arrested when it was confirmed she had paid the fare.

Pc Lathwood, who is attached to the Metropolitan Police’s Road Traffic Policing Command, appeared via video link wearing a white shirt and dark tie.

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The officer, from Normans Bay, East Sussex, entered a not guilty plea to the charge of assault by beating. Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram sent the case to be heard at City of London Magistrates’ Court on May 10.

The IOPC stated on January 12 that the police officer would appear in court after a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to charge him. It stated: "A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer will appear in court following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into the arrest of a woman on suspicion of fare evasion in Croydon, south London in 2023.

"PC Perry Lathwood, aged 49, attached to the Road Traffic Policing Command, will appear at the Westminster Magistrates' Court on 14 February 2024 to face one charge of assault by beating in relation to bruising injuries caused to the woman’s arm during the incident, which took place on 21 July on Whitehorse Road.

"We began our investigation in the days following the incident. At the conclusion of our investigation in December, we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, who authorised charges against the officer. All parties involved have been notified of the charging decision."

Tim Hanlon