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Posted on 12/11/2001 8:17:23 AM PST by illbenice

"I'LL LET CAR ROLL OVER YOUR HEAD"

A SHOCK video shows five police officers mocking and threatening a man as he writhes in agony with a broken leg.

Colin May, 43, had just been run over by a police car — but is left screaming with pain in the gutter for 38 MINUTES.

As he pleads for help one officer cruelly threatens him with torture.

The uniformed cop holds his boot over Colin's shattered left leg and says: "I'm going to tread on your leg, OK?"

He adds: "I am getting very close to your leg now."

The officer then puts his foot on Colin's stomach.

He says: "The next form of torture, I'm going to let the hand-brake off the car and roll over your head."

Later all five officers huddle around Colin, pictured right, as he pleads for help.

Camera

The police do not know that a neighbour, disturbed by the noise, has turned on a sophisticated security camera and is recording every word.

The film—studied by the News of the World—shows Colin crying out: "Call me an ambulance."

The policeman standing over him says: "He wants us to call him an ambulance."

The crowd of cops laugh as one says sarcastically: "You're an ambulance. You're a very naughty ambulance."

Again Colin pleads for help: "Where's the ambulance?"

This time a woman police officer mocks: "It's Friday night. They're very busy."

And one of her male colleagues says: "You'll probably have to walk it, mate." Colin's ordeal in Erith, Kent, began because, he says, he was trying to help police BEAT crime in the Thames-side community. A neighbour had been having trouble with vandals destroying his back fence. One night Colin heard noises and went out to investigate—without realising others had called the police.

Colin said: "Very foolishly I took a knife because I thought I was going to be confronted by these vandals.

"A man jumped out at me and yelled: 'Got you!' He completely surprised me. I didn't realise he was a policeman and thought he was one of the vandals.

"I ran down to the river-front. He cut me off and jumped out at me again. This time he threatened me and said, 'You're going to be sorry you pulled a knife on me.'

"I hadn't pulled a knife on him at all. I certainly wasn't going to wait around to see what he was going to do with him threatening me like that."

Colin said he hurled the knife in the river. He continued: "I ran up a side street where I was followed by a car. As I was running the car ran into the back of me, knocking me on my face." The impact hurled Colin over the bonnet and his leg was snapped. He soon discovered that he had been hit by an unmarked police car.

In the video one officer is heard saying: "It's a good run-down."— although there is no suggestion they ran him down deliberately.

Another policeman asks "Where did you drop the knife?"

Colin said: "The police turned me on my back. One put his foot on my stomach and slammed on handcuffs so viciously hard and tight they actually broke a bone in my right wrist. I blacked out for a while."

He added: "I was squirming in agony begging them to loosen the cuffs.

"One of the policemen put his foot on my leg and told me he would stamp on it if I didn't say what happened to the knife."

Even when the ambulance finally arrived the officers could not resist one more crack.

One policeman tells the crew: "He fell off the bonnet of a fast-moving police car."

Scandal

The video shocked senior officers in the Metropolitan force who were called in to investigate the incident.

One officer was quickly suspended. Others could face allegations of assault.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman said: "The Met are determined to establish the full facts of what happened and to act swiftly.

"The Met will not tolerate behaviour from officers unacceptable to the community."

A Scotland Yard source added: "This is a real scandal. We couldn't believe what we were viewing when we saw the video. It's absolutely appalling what happened. It's atrocious."

Colin—a DIY store worker —was eventually taken to hospital where he spent five days.

Later he was charged with carrying the knife in a public place and was bound over.

Other accusations against him—including damaging the garden fence—were dropped.

Colin is now suing the Met for damages.

Police were shown the video in September and the incident is being probed by complaints officers. Colin will be interviewed by them on Friday.

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