Greater Manchester police officers' treatment of suspect was 'little short of torture', says judge

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Two policemen were jailed for 18 months today for inflicting "deliberate cruelty" on a 19-year-old woman in custody in an incident described by a judge as a "little short of torture".

PC Jason Hanvey, 37, and Sergeant Andrew Kennedy, 51, were said to have shown "appalling and inexcusable conduct" at a police station in Collyhurst, Greater Manchester.

CCTV from the station's custody room caught Hanvey pressing Amy Keigher face down on a desk as he screamed: "Move and I'll rip your fucking skull off."

Hanvey grabbed her hair, pulled handcuffs over her head for more than a minute to fix her hands in a pain-inducing position, and then asked her to say "pretty please" to be released.

While Keigher sobbed in pain, Kennedy stood nearby showing "complete indifference" and appeared to condone Hanvey's actions.

Sentencing the pair at Manchester crown court, Judge Anthony Gee QC told Hanvey, from Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, that his behaviour was "little short of torture".

He added: "You took hold of her by the hair and brought her head down by the desk. You brought the handcuffs over her head [from behind] while she sobbed and begged to be released.

"You held her in that cruel position for a very substantial period of time. It was done to simply punish her under the guise of lawful restraint. This was deliberate cruelty and quite appalling and inexcusable conduct," he said.

The judge said to Kennedy that although Hanvey was the principle offender, he regarded his culpability "just as high".

"You could, and should, have stopped what was happening ... You allowed Hanvey to act in the way he did and moreover you appeared to approve what he did," he said.

The incident began after Keigher was arrested in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester in October 2008.

What followed next was "outright thuggery", said the judge.

Hanvey taunted Keigher, who was in handcuffs, that he earned more money than her and that she was on benefits.

She was then roughly held by the neck by an officer which caused her to complain the officers were "pathetic".

Hanvey then began to manipulate her arms, the court heard.

The officers' actions were brought to light after Keigher complained about her treatment and CCTV footage was reviewed. Detectives passed the matter on to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The court heard Hanvey, who has now left the police, had a previous conviction in 1999 for assaulting a man at another police station in Manchester.

He was allowed to remain a serving officer after a disciplinary hearing treated the matter as a "one-off".

Kennedy, of Atherton, Greater Manchester, retired after being convicted of failing to prevent such force. Both men were found guilty of misconduct in a public office following a three-week trial last month.

Gee said the men had failed to show any remorse or regret. "In the witness box you sought to justify what you did in what I regard as an arrogant fashion."