By Tony O'Riley
A Nottinghamshire police constable has appeared in court charged with assault by beating of a man.
PC Matthew Thompson, 40, entered a not guilty plea to the charge when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning
The officer denies the charge, but currently joins the list of officers charged with an offence this serious. His trial is expected to take place in the morning of March 25 at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court, at 10am. PC Thompson is accused of using excessive force against a man during an incident in Thaxton Road on July 13, 2018, but no further details were given about the allegation he faces.
This withdrawal of information is wrong because had he been an ordinary member of the public, full information would most likely have been provided. The Crown prosecution only press charges when there are reasonable grounds to believe a conviction will take place given the strength of the evidence before them. The CPS do sometimes get it wrong, but are usually reluctant to charge police officers except where the really believe it is in the public interest to do so, and that the officer is very likely to be convicted.
Thompson’s colleagues from Nottinghamshire police press office told The Eye Of Media.Com that they would get into trouble if they divulged any more details besides what the IOPC has put out on release. They could argue they don’t want to prejudice the outcome of the case, but this still doesn’t prevent them telling us what injuries the alleged victim suffered, and the circumstances of the alleged assault, even if in dispute. We will be at Loughborough Magistrates Court in March to report on the full details of this alleged assault.