The moment PC Imran Mahmood fired his Taser at Jordan Walker-Brown was captured on body-worn camera
A Met Police officer who left a man paralysed when he Tasered him as he ran away has been cleared of causing grievous bodily harm.
PC Imran Mahmood, 36, inflicted the injuries on Jordan Walker-Brown in Harringay, north London, during the first coronavirus lockdown in May 2020.
Mr Walker-Brown, 23, broke his back when he fell backwards over a fence.
The officer said he had feared Mr Walker-Brown had a knife and believed he needed to be “contained”.
PC Mahmood wept in the dock at Southwark Crown Court as the jury’s verdict was delivered – after nearly 10 hours of deliberations – as did some others, although some people walked out of the courtroom shaking their heads.
Image source, Julia Quenzler
PC Imran Mahmood admitted inflicting serious injury but denied he had acted illegally
Speaking to reporters outside the court Mr Walker-Brown, who is paralysed from the waist down, said he had known what the verdict would be.
“I feel like he won before he got here, it’s rigged, I was fighting against something that is bigger than everything.
“But I’m over it, it’s done. Win or lose, it’s a losing battle.”
Image source, PA Media
Jordan Walker-Brown, who hit his head on a footpath, now uses a wheelchair
When he gave evidence last week, PC Mahmood described how he was one of a group of nine officers from the Met’s territorial support group who were in a police vehicle when they saw Mr Walker-Brown walking down the road, on 4 May 2020.
The defendant told jurors he thought Mr Walker-Brown was wearing a small bag around his waist, and his suspicion was “heightened” because such bags were often used to conceal weapons or drugs and Mr Walker-Brown did not seem to be out for shopping or exercise.
The court heard that PC Mahmood and a colleague began following him on foot when Mr Walker-Brown started running away from them, climbing on top of a wheelie bin and scrambling on to an adjacent wall. It was at this point PC Mahmood Tasered him.
The defendant told the jury Mr Walker-Brown had reached for his waistband while running and did not respond when asked to stop.
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