Police officer kicked man he mistook for thief

A police officer who kicked a man he mistook for a thief would have been handed a final written warning if he had not already left the force, a misconduct hearing has found.

An independent panel on Wednesday found that on 3 January 2023, PC Alan Kirkwood was responding to a street robbery in Lincoln when he mistook dog walker Scott Barratt for a suspect.

He told Barratt to lie on the ground to be detained and kicked him, causing an injury, as well as using inappropriate and disrespectful language, the hearing heard.

Kirkwood was found to have used force which was "not reasonable, necessary or proportionate in all the circumstances", Lincolnshire Police said.

In 2024, Kirkwood was found not guilty during a trial at Nottingham Crown Court of assaulting Barratt after mistaking him for a robber and allegedly kicking him in the face.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the court was told Kirkwood had been knocked to the ground while chasing two men on Danesgate, Lincoln.

He then allegedly mistook Barratt, who was walking his dogs, for one of the suspects and pointed his Taser at him.

He ordered him to get on the ground and then allegedly kicked him in the face.

Prosecutors said Kirkwood quickly realised his mistake and later apologised to Barratt.

The jury cleared the officer of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Lincolnshire Police found there was no potential misconduct after the trial.

However, Barratt appealed to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which instructed the force to bring proceedings.

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