Three police officers investigated over an incident on 13 September 2009 in which two people in a pub in Brentwood, Essex, were sprayed at close range with CS gas have been cleared of any wrongdoing. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said Alan Lethbridge and an unnamed woman should have been warned before an officer, assisted by two colleagues, used the spray. Lethbridge, a builder from Romford, was allegedly being aggressive. The IPCC said the officers acted lawfully, but said the threat of using the spray might have been sufficient to calm Lethbridge.

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