Tomas McGarvey represents Metropolitan Police officer cleared in gross misconduct proceedings

Tomas McGarvey, instructed by Russell Haldane of THB Solicitors, acted for a serving police officer in gross misconduct proceedings that have now concluded with all allegations dismissed.

The proceedings were brought under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 and concerned allegations of excessive use of force and failing to act with honesty and integrity in relation to an incident that occurred in the early hours of the morning, whilst the Officer was on duty outside a nightclub in the Soho area of London. 

The misconduct alleged related to the Officer’s use of force on Mr A, a member of the public who had approached the Officer and a female member of the public who was making a complaint to the Officer regarding a potential drink spiking incident. The Officer warned Mr A about his behaviour and asked him to leave. Mr A did not leave. Mr A alleged that the officer used excessive force on him in circumstances where there was no just or lawful reason to do so, and caused Mr A to be arrested for assaulting an emergency worker. It was further alleged that the Officer made a statement, and signed a statement of truth, in which the matters set out were not truthful. 

Prior to the opening of the case, Mr McGarvey applied to adduce bad character evidence relating to Mr A, and following submissions from both parties, the Panel acceded to the application.

Mr A supported the proceedings and attended to give evidence. There was some CCTV footage, albeit the angle and distance meant that it was not conclusive, which showed the use of force by the office but not Mr A swinging a punch.  Significantly, no other officer present saw Mr A swing a punch towards the Officer,  The Officer gave evidence maintaining that he acted in accordance with his training after Mr A swung a punch at him . 

The matter was notable not only for its outcome, but due to the fact that the Panel applied the civil law test, in line with the guidance for transitional arrangements for Use of Force cases commenced before 30 June 2026 and heard after that date. 

The Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, which came into force on 30 June 2026, amend the Use of Force Standard of Professional Behaviour so that the “criminal law test” will apply instead of the “civil law test”, when deciding if an officer has a case to answer for breaching it. This recent change followed the decision of the Supreme Court in R (on the application of W80) v Director General of the Independent Officer for Police Conduct and Others [2023] UKSC 24. 

Chambers continues to act in high-stakes cases where allegations of gross misconduct, if proven, lead to the most severe outcome of dismissal without notice. On this occasion, the Panel found all of the allegations not proven on the balance of probabilities and consequently found no breaches of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

Tomas’s client is now free to return to front line policing.