Met Police officer branded boy, 16, a 'd***head' before another repeatedly slapped him

Metropolitan Police officer Stuart Price at Westminster Magistrates' Court, London, for sentencing on charges for the assault of a 16-year-old boy. It follows an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) of an incident on November 14, 2023 when the officers were transporting a 16-year-old child to hospital for a mental health assessment. Picture date: Friday January 24, 2025.
-Credit:Jonathan Brady/PA Wire


A Met Police officer referred to a boy as a 'f****** d***head' before his colleague slapped the 16-year-old in the face multiple times while holding him by the hair. PC Stuart Price, 35, has been ordered to pay a fine of £500 after being found guilty of carrying out an unlawful search of the boy, amounting to assault by beating, while colleague PC Sevda Gonen, 33, was given a community order after she was found guilty of of two counts of assault by beating.

Gonen slapped the boy multiple times in the face and carried out an unlawful search of him on November 14, 2023. She was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday (January 24) to a 12-month community order including 150 hours of unpaid work.

District Judge Briony Clarke also ordered her to pay £3,000 in costs, £250 in compensation and a £114 victim surcharge. As well as the fine, Price has been made to pay costs of £2,000, a victim surcharge of £200 and compensation of £100.

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The officers were initially called after the boy was reported to have been aggressive at his home address and violent towards a mental health worker who was attempting to perform an assessment, the trial heard. A camera inside a police vehicle captured conversation between the officers on their way to the boy’s home, in which Gonen was heard to call him “a f****** little shit”.

Metropolitan Police officer Stuart Price at Westminster Magistrates' Court, London, for sentencing on charges for the assault of a 16-year-old boy. It follows an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) of an incident on November 14, 2023 when the officers were transporting a 16-year-old child to hospital for a mental health assessment. Picture date: Friday January 24, 2025.
The search of the boy carried out after Stuart Price (pictured) and Sevda Gonen expressed concern he could have something in his pockets was found to be unlawful as he had not been arrested -Credit:Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Price said of the boy: “He’s a f****** d***head,” with Gonen replying: “I’ve had enough of him.” Once at the address, Price, of Gamlingay, in Cambridgeshire, offered to drive the boy to hospital in a police van after his mother told officers she was concerned for her son’s welfare.

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Footage from within the police vehicle showed that the boy lit a cigarette and started to smoke as the van was driven to hospital. During the trial, Gonen said the boy’s smoking made her “panic” as there were “huge safety risks”, adding she suffers from asthma and smoking in the vehicle was “criminal damage”.

A search of the boy after the officers expressed concern he could have something in his pockets was found to be unlawful as he had not been arrested. Gonen then said she was worried about him spitting, so put a coat collar by his mouth, the trial heard.

The boy’s eyes lowered and he became less responsive, with Pc Price heard on the footage saying: “You all right, mate? We’re just trying to help you, mate.” Price then said to Gonen: “Yeah, he’s hot to touch.”

In footage shown to the court, Gonen appeared to slap the boy’s face several times while holding him by the hair, causing his eyes to flicker. Discussing her actions, Gonen told the trial: “Any time there was a concern for his life, I decided the best course of action was to gently slap him on his cheeks. I was never trying to hurt him, this was solely for his own safety.”

The Metropolitan Police made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in December 2023, and the watchdog passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in April. Following the trial, the IOPC said it was in discussions with the force regarding disciplinary proceedings.

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The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.

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