Young man pulled over in Lancashire was told police would fabricate evidence to detain him

A police officer who was filmed threatening to “make something up” in order to lock up a young man has been suspended after a public outcry.

The man was reportedly pulled over in Accrington, Lancashire, on Friday by police after purchasing a quad bike for a relative when he was accosted by an officer and ordered to surrender his car keys, prompting him to protest he had done nothing wrong.

He was then told at a close distance that police would fabricate evidence to justify detaining him. The footage, filmed by a friend, went viral on social media and Lancashire police issued an apology, which admitted that threatening to make offences up damaged public confidence in the police and that the officer had behaved in an unacceptable fashion.

It said the member of the public had received a personal apology and that the incident had been referred to the force’s professional standards department for investigation.

But following pressure, the officer has now been suspended from duty. The force said in a statement: “We absolutely recognise the impact this footage has had on public confidence and following an initial review by our professional standards department the officer involved has … been suspended from duty.

“We have also taken the decision to voluntarily refer the matter to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. We hope these matters go some way to reassuring the public how seriously we are treating this matter.

“We will be speaking to the man in the footage to keep him fully informed regarding the actions we are taking.”

The Lancashire Telegraph quoted the man as claiming on social media: “He started to hail abuse at me, threatening me and saying he will make something up to lock me away. His words were: ‘Who they going to believe, me or you?’, while not keeping his two-metre distance, spitting at me while he was shouting.”

The Police Federation said as the investigation into the officer’s action is ongoing it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment at this stage.