Police officer to return to duty after being cleared of assault on handcuffed suspect

Pc Paul McVeigh, from Hebburn, had already been cleared of assaulting Nissan worker Jack Moore at a police station in Sunderland when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court in February.

Now, a Northumbria Police misconduct hearing has also cleared the father-of-two of any wrongdoing.

The 48-year-old was accused of intentionally yanking Mr Moore out of a police van before deliberately throwing him head first on to the cell floor at Southwick Police Station, causing him to land on his chin.

Mr Moore had been arrested for being drink and disorderly and had previously spat in the officer’s face in the incident two years ago - which he later admitted.

CCTV footage had been shown to a jury of 10 women and two men who cleared the officer, who has been an employee with Northumbria Police for 25-years, of assault.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that PC Paul McVeigh appeared before a misconduct hearing in Houghton last week following allegations that he used unreasonable force as he took a suspect into custody in January last year.

The hearing took place in front of an independent chair who deemed that PC McVeigh had no case to answer.”

During the trial the court had heard Mr Moore first became the subject of police attention when an officer was called to an incident in Craddock Close.

Mr Moore was refusing to leave the premises despite the householder insisting he did so.

He was arrested for being drunk and disorderly, and the officer called for back up.

When interviewed about the incident, he said dropping Mr Moore was an accident.

Mr McVeigh said he acted lawfully throughout, and his response had been proportionate in defence of himself and his colleague.