A police driver who was hauled to a disciplinary hearing because he knocked down a suspected moped mugger was cleared of misconduct today after a two-year ordeal that has been labelled an 'absolute travesty'.

PC Edwin Sutton, who said he wanted to protect the public from a high-speed chase, faced the sack from the Met Police.

He was accused of breaching professional standards by using a 'dangerous' method to stop the teenager - suspected of pinching a handbag - when he drove into the moped's path.

The 49-year-old road policing officer moved his marked car into the path of the moped being ridden by a 17-year-old boy - named only as 'Mr G' - in East Finchley in May 2017 to stop him speeding off.

Although the teenager suffered 'serious injuries' when he flew off his bike the disciplinary panel found today that none of allegations against PC Sutton were proven and he acted 'conscientiously' in the circumstances.

Pictured: A Metropolitan Police vehicle after performing a 'hard stop' on a moped to try and tackle spiralling crime in the capital

In the wake of the officer's two-year ordeal the head of the Police Federation in London slammed the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) and said that PC Sutton has been through 'hell and back' since the incident.

Ken Marsh said: 'I'm over the moon for him because he's been through hell and back over the past two years for doing his job.

'Why are they putting our colleagues in this position? This was a policy of the IOPC.

'It should never have come to this.

'Going forward we need legislation put in place in which it's very clear for all my colleagues to go out and do their jobs.

'If not it will get to the point where we are not going out and protecting the public anymore. I don't want to see that nor do my colleagues.

'But we need to be looked after and protected when we are just doing our jobs.

'I'm all for transparency but it has to be an equal playing field and not a witch hunt directed by the IOPC.It's an absolute travesty.'

The police released this video last year, showing specially trained drivers pursuing fleeing crooks on their bikes to warn muggers of the new tactic

The 49-year-old road policing officer moved his marked car into the path of the moped being ridden by a 17-year-old boy - named only as 'Mr G' - in East Finchley in May 2017 to stop him speeding off.

But Mr G sped up to a 'considerable speed' and was knocked from the moped when he ploughed into the police car, the hearing was told.

Mr G suffered 'serious' injuries when he was thrown from the moped in north London, but no further details were revealed.

Clearing him at a police misconduct hearing, chair of the bench Catherine Elliott, said that doing nothing might have been negligent and that PC Sutton was being conscientious when he decided to intervene.

She said most of what happened on the A406 was 'not disputed' and that the moped riders were driving dangerously.

She said: 'The moped riders were described as driving quite slowly, swerving through traffic, wheelie-ing in and out of traffic, driving dangerously and driving stupidly.

'It is also accepted that he spotted the blue bag on the handlebars and that he formed the not unreasonable decision that it may have been part of a crime.

'In fact to do nothing on that decision may have been negligent itself.

What is police guidance on 'tactical contact'? Police said guidance on the use of vehicles in stopping mopeds is similar to that surrounding the use of force by officers on foot. Officers are told they can only use force when it is 'absolutely necessary, reasonable and proportionate'. Police car drivers have to keep this in mind when deciding whether to crash into a fleeing moped mugger. Whereas police may have been more reluctant to chase robbers without helmets in previous years, a spike in moped crime concentrated the minds of Scotland Yard chiefs. More training for 'scorpion' drivers and the increasingly dangerous tactics used by muggers has led to the method being more widely used. Advertisement

'PC Sutton was being conscientious and taking his duties seriously when he decided to take some action.'

She added that the manoeuvre PC Sutton did was 'recognised' but 'normally undertaken by two or more vehicles'.

She continued: 'We found PC Sutton to be a good and credible witness - he gave an honest and assured account of what happened.

'What is in dispute is whether the manoeuvre PC Sutton did to block or restrict Mr G conformed with standard operating procedure.

'The panel has accepted that PC Sutton is credible and therefore accept that he saw the four moped riders in the lane and that they split up into two groups.

'The other drivers had all spotted the police car and Mr G himself in his statement said that the police car was in front of him to his left - that he saw the police man look at him.'

The hearing heard that PC Sutton was trained in tactical pursuit and containment and therefore they did not feel it necessary that he ring the control panel to ask for guidance.

She added: 'In a fast moving situation he had few if any practicable options.

'In the circumstances... PC Sutton did what was necessary in the apprehension of a suspected criminal.

'His decision to block that particular rider was a reasonable one.'

The misconduct hearing was told that PC Sutton, who has taken part in several specialist police driving courses and was aware of guidance for stopping mopeds, did not realise how fast he was going and it took 1.6 seconds for the patrol car's acceleration to impact.

Pictured: A moped mugging gang in the capital, where the police advocated crashing into people to knock thieves off their vehicles

Despite the force hailing the tactic for reducing moped-enabled crime last year PC Sutton was accused of using an 'unauthorised and/or dangerous method' of stopping the moped.

Since the incident, as part of a crackdown on soaring moped-enabled crime, 'tactical contact' - or 'hard stops' - allow officers to ram into criminals on mopeds to stop them.

Previously officers feared being jailed or sacked if moped riders were injured during high-speed chases and to make matters worse the suspects would take off their helmets to stop the pursuit.

Moped-enabled crime plummeted after the tactics were introduced. Operation Venice recorded a 36 per cent drop across London in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Police say from January to October in 2017 there were 19,455 moped-enabled offences across London, but from January to October last year that number plummeted to 12,419 offences.

The stops are carried out by uniformed 'Scorpion' officers - the highly trained drivers are allowed to physically hit a rider on a moped to knock him from the vehicle during a pursuit.

The panel found that none of the allegations were proven.