UK police suspend officer in ‘get off my neck’ arrest

  • A UK police officer has been suspended after a video emerged showing a man being held on the ground shouting: “Get off my neck.”  
  • Deputy commissioner of the police force called the footage “extremely disturbing”
  • The man was being held on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon

British police on Friday suspended an officer after video emerged showing a man in north London being detained using techniques “not taught in police training”.

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Footage posted on social media showed the man being held on the ground shouting: “Get off my neck.”

Steve House, deputy commissioner of the force, called the footage “extremely disturbing.

“Some of the techniques used cause me great concern – they are not taught in police training,” he said in a statement.

“One officer has been suspended and another officer has been removed from operational duty, but not suspended at this time. This decision will be kept under review,” he added.

Officers were called to a fight on Thursday and arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon, the force said.

The arrest evoked that of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of US police in May sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests.

-AFP