by Lynn Cox

lcox@thekmgroup.co.uk

A man who was threatened with a knife and assaulted by two policemen who were arresting him has received an apology and £14,000 compensation.

Anthony Colcomb, 57, had a knife held to his throat by the rogue cops, who went to his home to arrest him on suspicion of robbery.

No charges were brought against Mr Colcomb, of Thorold Road, Chatham.

The officers concerned who have since been sacked, were subsequently convicted of assault over the incident.

He has now received a full apology from the force and an out-of-court settlement of £14,000 from Kent Police after taking legal action through law firm Irwin Mitchell.

The letter of apology also states the force has important lessons to be learned from the incident.

Sgt Oliver Tingley and PC Luke Barlow dragged Mr Colcomb into his kitchen, threatened him by holding a knife against his throat and sat on him while shouting in his face, when they arrested him in August 2008.

Mr Colcomb, who suffers from arthritis, was then taken to Medway police station, where he was detained for three-and-a-half hours before being released.

Both officers were found guilty of assault at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court in April last year.

Sgt Tingley was jailed for 90 days and PC Barlow was ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service.

A police investigation into the matter found the police officers who attended Mr Colcomb’s home did not follow the correct procedures when arresting or cautioning him and were therefore not acting in the lawful execution of their duty.

Last month Mr Colcomb received a letter from Kent Police, acknowledging that he had been treated unlawfully and offering a personal apology.

It went on to say that there were ‘clearly important lessons to be learned by the organisation arising from this matter’.

Mr Colcomb said: “It was absolutely terrifying.

“One officer threw me onto my sofa and sat on me while he shouted in my face. I couldn’t move at all.

“Then when he had finished the other one dragged me into my kitchen and pulled a knife out.

“I was scared stiff, thinking what’s he going to do with this knife?

“I am still amazed and disgusted by what happened and hope that I can now get on with my life.

“I sincerely hope the police do learn from this so that no other innocent people have to go through the same ordeal I have.”

Iftikhar Manzoor, Mr Colcomb’s legal representative, added: “There is a strict limit on how much force police officers are allowed to use and in this case the officers in question went far in excess of any reasonable force.

“The police are there to enforce the law and protect the British public from harm, and Kent police have some very important lessons to learn from this case to ensure something like this can never happen again.

“It’s totally unacceptable to have officers going round threatening people and taking the law into their own hands.”