So, get this – a 93-year-old one-legged dude got into some serious trouble at his care home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Donald Burgess, who relied on a wheelchair, ended up being pepper-sprayed, Tasered, and hit with a baton by the cops. Can you believe that? It all went down on June 21, 2022, when PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto decided to unleash what’s being described as “unjustified and unlawful” force on the poor guy.
The whole crazy incident unfolded super quickly, with the officers barging into Mr. Burgess’s room and going all out within just over a minute. Smith is denying two counts of assault for using Pava spray and a baton, while Comotto is fighting a single assault charge for Tasing the elderly man. Apparently, the care home staff called the cops after Mr. Burgess threw food at a carer and poked her with a knife. Talk about a wild day at work, right? After a bit of a scuffle, they managed to calm him down for a bit before deciding to dial 999 for backup.
Now, here’s where things really take a turn for the worse. The officers showed up and found Mr. Burgess sitting there in his wheelchair, holding a little knife. Instead of trying to talk things out or figure out what was going on, PC Smith jumps straight to the threats. He basically tells the old man, “Drop the knife or get sprayed or Tasered. Your call.” Harsh, right? And it only gets worse from there. The body cam footage shows Smith spraying poor Mr. Burgess right in the face with the pepper spray. And get this – according to the prosecutor, Smith used up the whole canister on the guy. Ouch. If that wasn’t bad enough, he then whips out his baton and starts swinging at the elderly amputee.
In a surprising twist, Comotto decides to join in on the action and zaps Mr. Burgess with her Taser. The poor guy lets out a cry of pain as they finally manage to take the knife away from him. But here’s the kicker – no one was even close enough to Mr. Burgess to be in danger, and it should have been pretty obvious that he wasn’t going anywhere fast with just one leg. The prosecutor makes it clear that this was just unnecessary and excessive force on an elderly, vulnerable man who was clearly not in the best shape. So, yeah, things definitely spiraled out of control real quick that day.
