A police officer who knocked a youth off his bike after he had been on the receiving end of a volley of abuse is fighting to save his career.
Lee Jarvis has admitted careless driving after he left the youth with a grazed elbow when he pursued him through the streets but denies losing his temper.
The Cleveland Police officer was given six penalty points in his licence when he admitted the charge of careless driving at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court last year.
Now the PC is facing a disciplinary hearing where he could be sacked if found to have committed gross misconduct but categorically denies deliberately using his car to knock the youth off his bike.
The panel heard how three lads rode out of an alleyway into the middle of the road forcing the officer to carry out an emergency stop and pip his horn.
Adam Keenaghan, representing the police force, said the teenager grabbed hold of the police officer’s car window to pull him along the road.
PC Jarvis knocked him off the bike as he turned the corner at the bottom of St Barnabas Street, Middlesbrough.
CCTV footage of the seconds leading up to the collision and the officer’s body-worn camera footage captured in its wake were shown to members of the panel.
In it, the officer is heard to say – “I have given him a bit of contact and knocked him off his bike.”
But PC Jarvis insisted that he never intended to deliberately knock the teenager off his bike telling the panel it was ‘words that I have blustered out in a stressful situation’.
The recording picked up people shouting – ‘police brutality’ and being abusive towards him.
The officer’s lawyer, Nick Worsley, asked him about the impact the abuse from members of the public had on him at the time of the collision.
He said: “I thought I was going to get my head kicked in.”
Pc Jarvis denied that he had lost his temper at any point during the incident.
An eyewitness said she heard the youth and two other teenagers shouting abuse at the officer before trying to ride off at speed.
Under cross-examination from the force’s barrister, the officer categorically denied deliberately knocking the teenager off his bike.
The panel heard how the officer was driving at around 5mph at the time of the collision.
The officer is accused of breach of professional behaviour, use of force and discreditable conduct following his conviction after the incident in September 2021.
The hearing continues.
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