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A 15-year-old boy was wrestled to the ground by police and sprayed with tear gas as horrified shoppers looked on, a court heard.

Merseyside Police were ordered to hold fresh misconduct meetings with the officers involved by a High Court judge after an internal investigation and misconduct hearing recommended by the Independent Police Complaints Commission ended with no action being taken.

Ross Miller, from Anfield, was pulled to the ground by police outside Marks and Spencer on Church Street in Liverpool city centre in February 2011 and had the riot control chemical sprayed in his face despite being held in a seated position by officers.

He accused PC Claire Mannion and PC David Priestley of assault afterwards, but after an internal investigation rejected most of his complaints he appealed to the IPCC.

The complaints body upheld his appeal in a number of respects, criticised the officers' conduct and urged they both faced misconduct proceedings.

They said PC Mannion had used excessive force, that PC Priestley’s used of CS gas was not reasonable or proportionate and that their evidence did not match CCTV footage.

The incident in pictures:

But although the Chief Inspector who heard the cases gave “management advice” to PC Mannion neither officer was found to have breached the force’s standards of professional behaviour.

Mr Miller then appealed to the High Court, which on Thursday ruled against the force’s handling of the case and ordered a new disciplinary meeting be held.

Mr Justice Stewart ruled Mr Miller and his mum were excluded from attending the disciplinary hearings in breach of official regulations and weren't provided with transcripts of what went on behind closed doors.

He also said an “irrational” conclusion had been reached by senior investigator Chief Inspector Powell, after deciding there were “clear and obvious flaws” in her reasoning.

The altercation happened at about 6.15pm on February 18, 2011, when Mr Miller was with a group of friends in the town centre. After one of them was attacked the rest of his friends ran over to help him, shortly before police arrived.

But when they got there the victim was put in the back of a squad car and the group became concerned that he had been singled out instead of his attackers.

While the group discussed it with the officers on the scene PC Mannion and a special constable arrived and PC Mannion stepped into the crowd, pushing Mr Miller away.

As he moved away she pulled him back, before throwing him up against the side of the squad car.

The other officers quickly got involved, wrestled Mr Miller to the floor and held him in a seated position, before PC Priestley sprayed him in the face with CS spray.

This version of events is clear in CCTV footage obtained by the ECHO and Merseyside Police did not significantly dispute this version of events, Mr Justice Stewart said.

Mr Miller was arrested under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, but was not told the reason for this. He was then re-arrested on suspicion of affray at the police station but released on bail at 4am the next morning.

Proceedings against him were later abandoned.

In his witness statement PC Priestley said Miller had been “struggling violently, kicking out at officers” and fearing officers would sustain injury because of Miller’s conduct he shouted a warning to “stop fighting or you will be sprayed.” He said Miller ignored this and continued to resist. He said he then shouted another warning before spraying Miller in the face.

PC Mannion had justified her use of force on the grounds she felt threatened after a person shouted “someone has a blade”.

But this could not be supported by any of the other officers present, or by CCTV footage, investigators concluded. Despite this, Chief Inspector Powell said her version of events could not be ruled out.

The action was also justified because Mr Miller had made his body rigid and that the group had shown “violent tendencies”, according to PC Mannion.

But Mr Justice Stewart said the decision to accept this version of events was “irrational”, adding: “I fail to understand the basis upon which the conclusion of a group display of violent tendencies can be supported.”

Further he said inconsistencies between notebook entries and CCTV evidence were not addressed by investigators.

He also ruled the CS spray had been used within 2ft of Mr Miller’s face, when force guidelines say it must be sprayed from a minimum of 3ft.

He quashed the findings of both misconduct hearings, ordering a new set of disciplinary meetings to be held with a new decision maker in charge.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: “Merseyside Police notes, and will comply with, the judgement of the High Court in relation to Mr Miller.”

Speaking after the case Chris Topping, of Broudie Jackson Canter, who represented Mr Miller, said: “This is a classic case of how the police complaints system is extremely difficult for unrepresented people to participate in. It’s not a very transparent system. Without legal aid Ross would have been at a significant disadvantage.”

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