Police vs. pensioner: 93-year-old disabled man tasered, beaten with baton, and pepper-sprayed

Two officers responding to a call from a care home in East Sussex allegedly also struck Donald Burgess with a baton

A 93-year-old disabled man was sprayed in the face with synthetic pepper spray before being shot by a Taser and hit with a baton by police officers, a court has heard.

Donald Burgess was allegedly assaulted by PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto after officers responded to a call at the care home he resided at in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 21 June 2022. 

He was taken to hospital after the incident and later contracted Covid. He died 22 days later.

Staff called police after Burgess, who had one leg, was seen poking a care worker in the stomach with a cutlery knife after flicking food at her. Managers wheeled him back to his room and tried for half an hour to calm him before calling 999.

The officers were dispatched under a grade one call, meaning it was treated as the highest level of emergency.

Prosecutors claim the officers used “unjustified and unlawful” force within seconds of entering the pensioner’s room.

Southwark crown court was told on Monday that 1 minute and 23 seconds elapsed between the officers arriving and Burgess being shot with the Taser.

Smith, 51, denies two counts of assault by using Pava spray and a baton, and Comotto denies one charge of assault by discharging her Taser.

Prosecutor Paul Jarvis KC said Burgess was sitting in his wheelchair holding a small serrated cutlery knife when the officers entered the room.

They did not speak to the staff or explain to Burgess why they were there, jurors heard.

Instead, Smith told him: “Do you want to put the knife down or you will be sprayed or Tasered. Those are the options.”

Footage from body-worn cameras played to the jury showed Smith then discharging the spray directly into Burgess’s face.

“Comments made by Mr Smith suggest he emptied all of the canister into Mr Burgess’s face,” Jarvis said.

Seconds later, Smith drew his baton and struck Burgess.

Comotto deployed her Taser and Burgess cried out in pain. The officers took the knife from him.

Jurors were told there was nobody within arm’s reach of Burgess at the time and it should have been clear he was not mobile.

“This was an elderly, vulnerable man who may not have understood what was going on,” Jarvis said.

“Rather than being met with understanding and sympathy, he was confronted by irritation and annoyance on the part of the defendants.”

Burgess, who suffered from multiple health conditions including diabetes and carotid artery disease, had been a resident at the home since 2018.

Jarvis told the jury: “I want to make it clear – these defendants are not responsible for his death.”

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.