Police Accidentally Taser 14-Year Old
11/08/2010
Police apologised to a 14-year-old girl after accidentally shooting her with a taser, it was revealed today.
Officers in Nottingham were aiming at a 20-year-old man as they tried to arrest him, but accidentally hit the girl who was standing nearby.
The incident has now been referred to police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A Nottinghamshire Police spokeswoman said the incident happened in Stapleford, Nottingham, at about 10.35pm on Wednesday night.
Officers were called to reports of a group of people being antisocial in the area, and when they arrived were faced with around 15 people, she said.
"A 20-year-old man became aggressive to one of the officers, who attempted to arrest him," the spokeswoman said.
"He resisted arrest and assaulted the Pc. After a short struggle the officer tried to restrain him by discharging his taser.
"The taser did not connect with the offender and struck a 14-year-old girl who was standing nearby.
"As soon as the officer realised he had missed the intended target, he cancelled the discharge."
She said the taser was then fired again and the man was arrested for police assault and a public order offence.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
Ifti Manzoor from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "Police officers undergo specific training for the use of tasers and so this incident is very worrying.
"It is simply not acceptable that the wrong person was tasered, especially a 14 year old girl who must have been left traumatised.
“A full investigation needs to be conducted to ensure something like this is never able to happen again. I have acted in many cases involving the use of police tasers and the family should also obtain specialist legal advice regarding what has happened."
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