After lodging a complaint that his injuries sustained during an arrest stemmed from not having proper back-up, one former policeman was recently awarded nearly £13,000 in personal injury compensation.
50 year old Richard Gardner made a work accident claim against the West Midlands Police Force at Birmingham Employment Tribunal for disability discrimination. His personal injury claim netted him £12,000 for his injuries and emotional distress with an additional £933 in interest dating to 2008, when the incident originally occurred.
Mr Gardner, a father of four who had earned not one but two commendations over the course of his 12-year career in the police service, had informed a previous tribunal how he had been jeered and booed by a hostile crowd during the apprehension of a subject in Broad Street, Birmingham. According to the former police officer’s accident claim, Mr Gardner sustained severe injuries to both his back and his knees when he crashed to the pavement, becoming covered in blood in the process.
Mr Gardner reported that the man he apprehended was later faced with conviction. However, in the wake of the incident he was off work for months and required several surgical procedures on his knees as well.
Alledging that he had no back-up from police colleagues, Mr Gardner accused the police of failing to properly make adjustments for his injuries once he returned to work. He said that while he was incapable of performing more physically strenuous tasks, he was capable of carrying out forensic work instead.
In opposition of his compensation claim, the police denied any failure to help Mr Gardner when he returned to active duty as a police officer. However at the latest hearing, the tribunal judge declared Mr Gardner’s disabilities to be valid and permanent.