TWO Sussex Police officers have been sentenced for assaulting a 14-year-old girl while she was detained in handcuffs inside a police vehicle.

PC Kris Green, 36, and PC Deborah Sands, 48, have been ordered to carry out community service for the assault.

Following a trial at Folkestone Magistrates Court in December, a district judge found Sands guilty of assault for use of Pava spray, an incapacitant.

While Green was found guilty of assault for a knee strike to the head.

The pair were both ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, and to pay the victim £500 in compensation each.

Both were also ordered to pay court costs of £560.

It follows an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into the officers’ use of force against the girl, who was detained during an incident in East Sussex on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.

At trial the court was told that the officers used excessive force against the teenager, who had been reported as a missing person at the time.

Body-worn video footage presented to the court in evidence showed the force the officers used and that they engaged in verbal altercations with the girl during her arrest.

Now the criminal case has concluded it will be for the force to progress disciplinary proceedings.

IOPC regional director Graham Beesley said: “While there are occasions when the use of force is required, police officers are entrusted with the power to do so only if it is necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

"Our investigation raised serious concerns about the actions of both officers and the Crown Prosecution Service made the decision to bring charges after we referred a file to them.

“The court has clearly taken the view that both officers, whose role involves ensuring the welfare of detainees, went beyond what was necessary to ensure control of the girl in a custody environment.”

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