Scottish police were right to use taser on man who threw a golf club at them, probe finds

Scottish police were right to use a taser on a man who threw a golf club at them, an investigation has found.

A report, published today by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner, found the use of a taser by police on a 40-year-old man acting aggressively towards armed officers and who had set fire to his home was necessary and proportionate.

Police attended a disturbance at the man’s home in the Balintore area of Ross-shire after receiving a 999 call advising that he was drunk and had threatened someone with violence.

Balintore in Ross-shire, where the incident took place. Picture: Google maps

The man was involved in a similar disturbance three weeks earlier.

When police attended just before 6pm on 1 August 2019, the man was hostile and aggressive towards the firearms officers, smashed a window and threw numerous items, including a golf club, at them. After the man set fire to the property, officers decided to enter the property and arrest him, at which point he threw other items, including a television and garden shears, at them.

When officers found the man in an upstairs bedroom, they pointed a conventional gun and Taser at him, but he failed to follow an instruction to show his hands. At that point, a firearms officer discharged the taser at the man and he fell to the floor.

An investigation report by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner into the circumstances of the incident was submitted to Police Scotland in October. A summary of the findings of the investigation, which found that the police actions were justified in bringing the incident to a safe conclusion, can now be published as outstanding proceedings against the man are now concluded.