Meet the PC who slapped the boy in the face was found guilty of assault.

A Metropolitan police officer who slapped a 16-year-old boy with mental health problems “several times” while he was being taken to hospital has been found guilty of assault.

PC Seoda Goonen, 33, denied the charge, claiming she was concerned for the boy’s life during the trip on November 13, 2023 – while prosecutors argued she “made good on her frustrations”. Allowed”.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court also found Goonen and another Met PC, Stuart Price, 35, guilty of unlawful search, which amounted to assault by beating.

He will be sentenced on January 24.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was in discussions with the Met regarding disciplinary action.

Police were initially called to the boy’s home address after he became aggressive and violent towards a mental health worker who was trying to make an assessment.

Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Goonan, from Leytonstone, east London, had “created the impression that he was wasting his time by falsely claiming some sort of mental illness”.

Price, of Gamelinge, Cambridgeshire, offered to take the boy to hospital in a police car after his mother told officers she was concerned for her son’s welfare.

The boy then climbed into the police car but left his foot outside, preventing the rear door from closing.

Footage from inside the police car showed the boy lighting a cigarette and starting to smoke.

The court heard that after a struggle the boy was handcuffed but not arrested and searched.

Prosecutors said the search was illegal because the boy had not been arrested.

Cost could be heard on body-clothed camera footage shown in court, with Goonan saying: “Just to let you know he’s spitting in my face.”

Goon said he was worried about her spitting, so put a coat collar over her mouth, the court heard.

The boy’s eyes lowered and he became less responsive, with Price heard in the footage saying: “You okay, man? We’re just trying to help you.”

Price then told Gonon: “Yeah, he’s hot to the touch.”

In further footage shown to the court, Goonan is then seen repeatedly slapping the boy in the face and holding him by the hair, causing his eyes to glaze over.

Discussing his actions, Goon told the court: “Anytime there was any concern for his life, I decided the best course of action was to slap him gently on the cheeks.

“At that point I thought I was saving someone’s life. I thought I was preventing a medical emergency from happening.”

Judge Bruni Clarke said that by her count the boy had been slapped 16 times, and she thought it was clear that Goonan thought the boy was “lying”, then he “suggested a At the time, another colleague tried to explain his behavior in terms of a known medical condition.

The Metropolitan Police had referred the case to the IOPC last December.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “Police officers must have a lawful reason to detain and search any member of the public and all officers are aware that they must provide certain information to individuals during a search. Should do.

“These officers made no attempt to explain their actions and, in fact, both gave different accounts to the IOPC of the powers under which they were conducting the search. Today, a judge found that the search of the child was unlawful.

“Furthermore, PC Goonan’s slapping to check the child’s consciousness is not an approved method and has been described as a further unlawful use of force.”