Met Police officer jailed for assaulting man in hospital bed, watchdog says
Pc Rajan Solanki, 28, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday after pleading guilty to assault by beating, the IOPC said.
A Metropolitan Police officer has been jailed for 12 weeks after assaulting a man who was handcuffed to a hospital bed, the police watchdog has said.
Pc Rajan Solanki, 28, on the Met’s North East Area Command Unit, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday after pleading guilty to assault by beating, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
The police watchdog said the charge related to an incident on June 9 2024 when Pc Solanki and another officer went to a hospital in east London hospital to attend to a man who had been admitted for a mental health assessment.
When the officers arrived, the man, who had allegedly been violent earlier that evening, was already handcuffed to a hospital bed – with one set of handcuffs on each wrist attached to the bed, the IOPC said.
At approximately 1.15am on June 10, Pc Solanki removed the man’s right handcuff and later when trying to re-apply the handcuff a struggle took place, the watchdog said.
Body-worn video footage presented at court showed Pc Solanki restraining the man and putting his right arm around his neck with his left hand holding his right, in a choke-hold position. The man appeared physically distressed and red-faced, and his breathing appeared to be restricted.
The IOPC said that while he continued to hold his arm around the man’s neck, Pc Solanki said: “Put your arm on the cuff, or I’m going to choke you out” and “I swear to god, I will f****** choke you out”.
With the assistance of other officers and hospital staff, the handcuffs were re-applied with the man face down on the bed, with his arms crossed in front of him. The video showed that Pc Solanki had his arm around the man’s neck for just over 20 seconds.
The police watchdog said as well as his jail sentence, the officer will also serve a 12-month probationary period after his release.
IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “Officers are trained to use force that is reasonable and proportionate to the circumstances. In this incident, Pc Solanki used unlawful force when he put his arm around a man’s neck while he was handcuffed to a hospital bed.
“His actions could have had serious consequences, and he has now been convicted for assault. The seriousness of his offending has been reflected in his prison sentence.”
The watchdog, which investigated the incident, said it will be liaising with Scotland Yard over disciplinary matters “in due course”.
