A West Midlands Police officer is due to appear in court today (Wednesday 21st November) charged with racially aggravated wounding following an incident where a man was hospitalised after being injured by a police dog in Northfield last September.
The incident happened on 4th September 2017 at the former North Worcestershire Golf Club in Hanging Lane, where a group of travellers were pitched, after police were called to a report of the theft of roof tiles from the former clubhouse.
During the incident, a man was restrained by a police dog handler deploying his dog.
The police watchdog was asked to assess the conduct of the dog handler after a video of the incident – captioned: “[…]everyone share this post on let people see how travellers really get treated” – was posted on Facebook and viewed millions of times.
Following an investigation, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed that suspended dog handler PC Paul Birch has been charged with unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm and that the offence was racially aggravated contrary to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
image from Google Maps
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