On July 21, 2018, in Croydon, south London, PC Perry Lathwood, 50, grabbed Jocelyn Agyemang by the arm and viciously beat her, leaving her with bruises.
The woman claimed the officer dubbed her a “daft cow” after she was mistakenly arrested for fare evasion.
In a victim personal statement read aloud at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Ms. Agyemang described the event as “deeply humiliating and embarrassing” and claimed that Lathwood had a “look of contempt in his eyes” on that particular day.
She continued by saying that the arrest had a “devastating effect” on her and that she had lost faith in the police.
The police from East Sussex was sentenced by Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram, who stated: “In my opinion, the officer crossed the line and made a mistake on this occasion.”
However, the judge stated that his acts were a “momentary error of judgment” when interacting with a “difficult and challenging” passenger, not because of “bad faith” or “an abuse of power”.
In July of last year, Ms. Agyemang was leaving her son at her mother’s house in preparation for a 12.30 p.m. appointment in Marylebone.
At the moment, ticket inspectors on a Croydon bus were receiving assistance from police officers.
She was requested to provide proof that she had paid her bus fare when she and her son got off the bus at around 11 a.m.
