Boy in school uniform tasered in ‘neighbour dispute’ - West Midlands police officer referred to watchdog

An officer has been referred to a police watchdog after shocking mobile phone footage of a 14-year-old boy being tasered to the ground in a Birmingham suburb on Monday, October 16 was made public. Officers were called to a property in Bromford at around 5.20pm to a reported ‘civil matters between neighbours’. 

The video, which was obtained and uploaded by Instagram user Birmz is Grime, shows one officer wrestling the boy from the address in a headlock while onlookers shout: "Get off him, get off him". As the boy breaks free, the same officer then trains his taser on him before zapping him with an estimated 50,000 volts - causing him to fall to the grass.

His mum screams "he's 14" and "what the f**k have you done to my son?" and the boy's legs can be seen twitching as he lies stricken on the ground. As the officer tells him to not move, people can be heard pleading "watch his asthma, look he can't breathe, he's a child." The cop can be heard telling people to stay back before adding: "I don't care, I don't care." The footage has since been viewed thousands of times.

Confirming the incident, West Midlands Police said a referral had been made to the police watchdog after a 14-year-old boy was tasered. The force said they were originally called to a "neighbour dispute" and the teen had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and criminal damage.

A police spokesperson said: "We’re investigating after being called to a neighbour dispute in Kempson Road, Hodge Hill just before 5pm yesterday (16 Oct).  Several residents were arguing, there were allegations of physical violence and the two officers were faced with a hostile crowd."

The spokesperson continued: "As they attempted to diffuse the situation, threats of criminal damage were made.  One of the officers tried to arrest the suspect, but he resisted and the officer was further attacked by another man. During the scuffle, a 14-year-old boy was Tasered.

"A 37-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and remain in custody.  The teen was also arrested for criminal damage and threats to cause criminal damage. Our Professional Standards Department is reviewing the officers’ body worn video and a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will be made as is usual protocol in these circumstances."

Many viewers however, were divided about the police’s handling of the arrest, describing it as “heavy-handed”. One said: "That's a bit heavy-handed to say the least considering he is only a kid." Another added: " This boy posed no threat at all and had no weapon that warrants this behaviour from the police."

A third said: "A taser is potentially a lethal weapon that can kill. This is clearly a child in a school uniform. The only point in which it would have been acceptable to taser him was if he pulled a knife or a gun and the copper felt his life was in danger in that scenario this would have been fair game. He was clearly in no danger so he abused his power."