Two Sussex police officers sacked for gross misconduct against elderly amputee
PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto have been dismissed after using unnecessary force on a 92-year-old care home resident in 2022.
FTMQ News, written by our newsroom0 views
Two police officers have been sacked for gross misconduct after using a Taser, pepper spray, and a baton on a 92-year-old amputee at a care home, according to reports from BBC News and Sky News. A disciplinary panel made the ruling on Tuesday at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes. [1][2][3]
BBC News reported that PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto were called to the Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea in June 2022 after resident Donald Burgess threatened carers with a dinner knife. Mr Burgess, who had dementia and sat in a wheelchair in his bedroom, was pepper-sprayed, hit with a baton, and Tasered by the officers. [1]
The panel decided that the officers used unnecessary and unjustified force against Mr Burgess. Both officers had previously been acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in May 2025, BBC News reported. [1]
A Taser is an energy device that fires barbed darts to deliver a high-voltage electric current into the body. The charge causes neuromuscular incapacitation and involuntary muscle contractions. [5]
In short
- PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto were sacked for gross misconduct.
- The officers used a Taser, pepper spray, and a baton on 92-year-old Donald Burgess.
- The incident occurred at Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea in June 2022.
- Both officers were acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in May 2025.
Sources
Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.
- [1]PCs who used Taser and baton on amputee, 92, sackedBBC News, 1h ago (the report this story comes from)
- [2]PCs sacked after 92-year-old tasered and pepper sprayed in care homeSky News, 2h ago
- [3]PCs who used Taser and baton on Donald Burgess at care home sackedBBC, 4h ago
- [4]PCs who Tasered and pepper-sprayed care home resident, 92, barred from policingThe Independent, 1h ago
Background
- [5]Taser on Wikipedia
Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 5 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.
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