A disabled Dundee dad who was pinned to the ground by arresting police while begging for mercy, has had a complaint dismissed by the force watchdog.
Lee Fraser, 48, has now launched a legal action against Police Scotland, claiming he was wrongfully arrested and beaten.
He had been returning from the supermarket with his wife when he was brought to the ground by officers who stopped his car in Dundee.
The father-of-one, who suffers from multiple spinal problems and cysts on his brain, claims he broke a tooth as he was subsequently “assaulted”.
His wife filmed part of the incident but the Police Investigations Review Commissioner (PIRC) has dismissed his complaint due to “insufficient evidence”.
Complaint dismissed
Mr Fraser – who was later taken to court for resisting arrest and assault – believes a miscarriage of justice civil action is the only way to hold Police Scotland accountable.
He has enlisted solicitors Digby Brown to help.
He said: “For the PIRC to throw out my complaint, despite the video and my injuries… it just beggars belief.
“It’s like they are all just looking out for themselves – this is clear in the fact they summed everything up in a one page letter and didn’t even give me a route to appeal.
“I genuinely feel a legal action is the only way to hold Police Scotland to account.”
A letter from PIRC to Mr Fraser states: “Following assessment and investigation the PIRC has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove any allegations of assault or that any officer used excessive force towards you.
“This is because there must be sufficient corroborative evidence in law, from two separate sources, that an offence has been committed and that the accused person was the person responsible.”
“In respect of your complaint there was insufficient corroborative evidence of a crime having occurred or that any officer used excessive force towards you.”
Brought to the ground
The Courier previously told how the incident happened at around 9pm on March 23 2021, a year after Mr Fraser underwent a C3/C4 discectomy – a gruelling surgical procedure that removed discs from his spine.
He and his wife Sheryl, 46, were returning from Lidl on Dura Street when their Vauxhall Astra was pulled over by a police van.
The pair – who have been together for 30 years, married for 19 and have one teenage son – got out the car, as two PCs also left their vehicle.
Describing the ensuing chaos, Mr Fraser said: “The first cop was screaming at my wife to get back inside the car and grabbed her.
“A second officer rushed at me so I ended up pinned against my open car door next to the steering wheel.
“He was so close and aggressive I felt his saliva hit my face. He was out of control.
“He then shouted that I was not being compliant and that I needed to go to the floor – that’s when my wife was starting to panic and begged the officers to stop because of my condition.
“She pulled out the car’s blue badge to show officers and they looked at it, said something like, ‘we understand’ but it didn’t change their behaviour one bit.”
Pinned on the roadway
Mr Fraser said he was grabbed at the back of the neck by one officer while the second kicked him in the back of the legs.
He was then pinned on the ground, leaving him, he said, with cuts, bruises and a broken tooth.
It is while he was on the ground his wife started filming the incident.
He added: “We screamed at them that I was disabled. They didn’t care at all.
“To this day we still don’t even know why they pulled us over.”
He said he was given three different reasons by three different officers – driving 58mph in a 30mph zone, running a red light and routine checks.
Mr Fraser – who claims further ill-treatment while in police HQ – was allowed to return home the following day but was charged with assault and resisting arrest.
He was found not guilty after a two-day trial at Dundee Sheriff Court.
‘Public support’
Mr Fraser said: “The public’s support since the false claims against me were thrown out has been positive and overwhelming.
“There’s a real sense that people are more awake now when it comes to police abusing their powers and that we’re no longer going to accept that kind of behaviour.
“I’m just glad my wife started recording the incident after the first guy let her go because without the footage we’d likely have no one believing us while the police saunter off into the sunset.”
A Digby Brown Solicitors spokesman confirmed the firm is investigating, saying: “We are investigating the circumstances of this incident and we will provide all necessary support and advice to Mr Fraser.”
Police Scotland declined to comment.
In July 2022, the force also declined to comment, because the issue rested with PIRC.
