Rosalind Holt, 37, says even though she had already seized an empty wine glass she thought could be used as a weapon, the man was "edging for a fight"
A GMP police officer CS sprayed a man during a call to a mass brawl at a pub even though she had ‘disarmed’ him by seizing an empty wine glass from him which she feared could be used as a weapon, a disciplinary hearing was told.
PC Rosalind Holt, 37, denied allegations she was motivated by racism when she confronted the black man at Ye Golden Lion pub in Blackley.
The 5ft 3inch rookie cop said she acted because she was being threatened by the 6ft 4in man when she went into the Market Street boozer in July 2020.
The former PCSO, who was a GMP probationer at the time, told a disciplinary hearing yesterday (Tuesday) it had been her ‘passion’ to join the police because she ‘wanted to help people’. She ‘absolutely loved’ her job, especially community work, she said.
She was just 18 months into her career as a police officer when she was dispatched to the pub following reports of a brawl involving 15 to 30 people.
In the months before the 999 call, the hearing was told the officer suffered nerve damage during a ‘distressing’ incident involving a shoplifter and she also suffered a spine injury which required surgery when a driver made off from a scene.
Footage of the incident, including CCTV and the officer’s own body-cam, showed PC Holt going into Ye Golden Lion alone at around 10pm and ordering people to leave the premises. The officer said she walked into ‘chaos’ with people ‘shouting and screaming’.
The officer ended up in a confrontation with one man, who could be seen with an empty wine glass in his hand, in the pub foyer as he exited.
She is heard on the footage shouting to the man: “Don’t be stupid - put the f***ing glass down.”
The footage captures the man, who was grabbed by the officer, telling her ‘you have three seconds yeah to leave my f***ing wrist alone’. He is also heard to call her a ‘f***ing midget’.
PC Holt told the hearing she managed to ‘wiggle’ the glass from the man and pass it to a member of pub staff. She said she believed he had been trying to conceal it behind his back.
The footage then shows a sergeant arriving in the foyer who also confronts the man before a female companion of the man also comes into view.
PC Holt is then seen to raise the CS incapacitant spray and tell him ‘try it and you will be sprayed’.
Moments later she relases the spray into his face as he looks at her, over the head of his female companion.
The female companion is heard to shout: “It’s because he’s f***ing black, it’s because he’s f***ing black.”
Asked by her barrister Nicholas Walker how she felt during the incident, she said ‘panicked, scared’ and that she feared the man was going to ‘hurt me’.
She said she came to the conclusion because of the location, in an enclosed foyer, the size of the man and his strength - she said she could feel he was ‘quite muscular’.
PC Holt said the glass was a potential ‘weapon’ and that the man was also ‘angry’, was staring at her and he spoke in a ‘threatening’ tone towards her.
The officer said she believed the man had been threatening her with the wine glass. She said she opted to use the CS spray rather than her baton as this would have the ‘least impact’ and she wanted to ‘distract’ him and get him outside the pub.
The footage shows the officer repeatedly spraying the man. PC Holt told the hearing she did this as he was lookinng to fight and her sergeant was ‘struggling’ to deal with him.
The officer called the man a ‘black guy’ to police colleagues once outside the pub but this was to identify him as a ‘black male’, she told the hearing.
“Were you meaning to be racist?” asked Mr Walker, and his client replied: “No, not at all.”
The officer also used ‘bottle’ to describe the potential weapon to colleagues outside, but she insisted this was because ‘my adrenaline was going’.
The officer said she had also been affected by the spray and was ‘just really panicked’.
“I was just trying to explain the situation. But I was hyped up and it was just terrifying,” she said.
Alexander Dos Santos on behalf of GMP suggested the man had his arms by his side and was no threat at the moment she CS sprayed him, but PC Holt insisted he was a threat because of his ‘demeanour’. She said he was ‘fixated on me’.
“He’s still being aggressive. He’s fixated and edging towards us and he wants to fight,” she said.
As the questioning continued, PC Holt stood up and said: “Can I have a break? I can’t handle this. I don’t feel I should go through this s**t.”
She walked out of the hearing room and the case was adjourned. The hearing is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
PC Holt denies gross misconduct.
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