Off-duty police officers assaulted man in city bar

Matthew Muskett (L) and Zach Gell (R) were found guilty of assaulting a disabled man in a city centre bar
-Credit:Liverpool Echo


Two serving Merseyside Police officers were found guilty of assaulting a disabled man in a city centre bar while off duty. Matthew Muskett and Zach Gell were on a night out with friends when CCTV showed the pair grabbing Sam Corner in Dorothy's Show Bar and shoving him in the corridor of the Victoria Street bar on May 11, 2023.

In a trial at Manchester Magistrates' Court which began in November last year before concluding on Friday, January 17, it was heard how the pair had been charged with assault by beating but both denied the charges. Mr Corner, who has autism, ADHD and a stoma bag, had been out with three friends, Adam Smith, Paul Powers and his partner Frances, when they met two other people in the bar at around 10.30pm on the night of the Eurovision semi-finals.

On the second day of the trial, Mr Corner’s friend, Mr Powers, 54, told the court: “I said to the officers after it happened it was like hyenas on a gazelle. I come from a Kung-Fu background and they were feeding off terrifying him.”

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Adam Smith, who has been friends with Sam Corner for more than 20 years, told the court previously how it was “exciting” for Mr Corner, 27, to go to the gay bar on the night of May 11 as he had not long come out as gay. But when questioned by Maria Brannan, defending Matthew Muskett, he told the court how he was nervous of Sam speaking to groups of people in case they got the “wrong end of the stick” due to his disabilities.

Mr Smith explained how when the man returned he then went to speak to the bouncer to emphasise Mr Corner’s disabilities. After returning from speaking to the member of security, he said he saw Mr Corner stop talking to the group, whose body language suggested they did not want him to be there. He then said how he saw Mr Corner go “straight to the toilet” before the group of men followed.

In CCTV shown to the court, Mr Corner could be seen entering the toilet before Gell, 27, of Starbeck Drive, Little Sutton, and Muskett, 25, of Windham Close, Eastham, followed around a minute later.

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When they returned from the toilet, Mr Smith explained how he saw one of the men produce what he described as an ID card. This is when, he said, Mr Corner “walked away straight away” from the group, with CCTV played to the court showing the three men, including Gell and Muskett, continuing to confront Mr Corner.

In the footage, they can be seen holding Mr Corner as they walk back down a corridor next to the toilets as they left the dancefloor. This is when it is Muskett and Gell assaulted the then 25-year-old.

Following the trial in Manchester Magistrates' Court, District Judge Hamilton found the pair guilty before handing them 100 hour community orders to be served in the next 12 months. Muskett and Gell will both also have to pay £200 in compensation each as well as £1,500 towards the prosecution's costs and a £114 victim fee each.

Detective Chief Superintendent Sabi Kaur, head of Merseyside Police's Professional Standards Department, said: “Merseyside Police and the communities of Merseyside rightly expect the highest standards of professional behaviour from its police officers and police staff, whether they are on or off duty. When these standards are not maintained, it is right that those officers or staff should be investigated and brought to justice just as any other member of the public would be.

“The public should be reassured that the vast majority of our officers are professional and committed to serving the communities of Merseyside day in, day out. An internal misconduct investigation is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”