A British Transport Police (BTP) officer has been sentenced this week after he was convicted of assaulting a 15-year-old girl at Camden Road Overground station.
On 8 October, PC Adrian Young, 48, was found guilty of assaulting the girl in September 2024, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Yesterday, Thursday 13 November, he was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He was also ordered to pay victim surcharge.
The court heard that on 22 September 2024 officers responded to a request for assistance at Camden Road from railway staff after a 15-year-old girl pushed her way through the ticket barriers.
PC Young – who was part of the London Overground Tasking Team – approached the girl, and CCTV footage shows him restraining her by putting her in a headlock for 30 seconds, before he then pushed her back through ticket barrier and placed his hand round her throat while pushing her up against a ticket machine.
PC Young handcuffed and arrested the girl before she was then de-arrested at the scene.
A member of the public who witnessed the incident made a complaint and BTP voluntarily referred the incident to the IOPC. PC Young remains suspended from duty.
During the investigation the IOPC also found that PC Young should face a gross misconduct hearing for allegedly breaching the police standards of professional behaviour. Now that criminal matters have concluded, we will be liaising with them to swiftly progress disciplinary proceedings.
Assistant Chief Constable Sean O’Callaghan said: “I’d like to be absolutely clear that the actions of PC Young during this incident were appalling, demonstrating a completely unnecessary and unacceptable use of force against a child.
“Police officers are rightly expected to maintain control of any situation and by not doing so, PC Young has undermined public confidence in BTP and the high standards we hold our officers to every day.
“We thank the IOPC for their investigation and will be looking to progress with internal disciplinary proceedings as soon as possible.”
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
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