By Lucy Caulkett-
A former West Midlands Police officer has been handed a community order after an investigation found he used disproportionate and unnecessary force against a woman during a domestic disturbance call-out.
PC Calum Brand, 27, pulled the woman by her hair, pinned her down by the neck and elbowed her in the face during a struggle in a communal stairwell at flats in Halesowen.
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Brand denied a charge of assault by beating but was found guilty at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 15 July. He was sentenced at the same court on 7 September and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a community order.
The incident happened on 16 June 2025, when Brand was one of four officers sent to a flat following reports of a domestic disturbance. Checks carried out at the address revealed that a man was wanted on a warrant after failing to attend court.
Officers restrained the man and escorted him from the flat into the communal stairwell. Body-worn video footage examined during the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation shows the woman approaching Brand from behind before he grabbed her hair and forced her to the ground.
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The footage also shows Brand pinning the woman down by the neck before elbowing her to the side of the head. She suffered facial injuries, although they were not considered serious.
Brand told investigators that the woman had struck him in the back and that he feared she might have been carrying a weapon. He said he believed the force he used was appropriate and proportionate to the situation.
He subsequently arrested the woman on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, but she was later released without charge.
The IOPC launched its investigation following a mandatory conduct referral from West Midlands Police on 4 July 2025. Investigators examined body-worn video, obtained statements from officers, interviewed Brand and reviewed relevant police training, policies and guidance.
A file of evidence was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service on 18 November, with prosecutors authorising a charge of assault by beating.
IOPC Director of Engagement Derrick Campbell said the situation had been challenging for the officers, noting that the man they had arrested was drunk and largely incoherent and that a struggle had developed in the stairwell.
However, he said Brand’s response to the woman was unjustified.
“The woman tried to intervene, and PC Brand’s response was disproportionate and unnecessary,” Campbell said. “There was no justification for the level of force he used and no attempt to de-escalate the situation.”
Campbell added that the woman had not posed a genuine threat to Brand and had not, up to that point, shown aggression towards the officers.
“The woman suffered facial injuries at the hands of an officer who should have been there to help protect and safeguard her,” he said.
The IOPC investigation concluded that Brand had a case to answer for gross misconduct.
A misconduct hearing held by West Midlands Police on 2 September found gross misconduct proven on the basis that Brand had breached the professional standard of discreditable conduct through his conviction for a criminal offence.
Brand had already resigned from the force, meaning he could not be dismissed. The hearing concluded that he would have been dismissed without notice had he remained an officer.
He has also been placed on the barred list, preventing him from working in policing again.
The case highlights the scrutiny faced by police officers when the force they use during confrontations is alleged to have gone beyond what is necessary and proportionate. In this case, the criminal conviction was followed by a separate misconduct finding, ensuring that Brand’s departure from the force did not prevent further professional sanctions.
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