After being found guilty by August district judges of assault, PC Declan Jones was fired from the West Midlands Police.
An officer of the police who had been sentenced to prison for assaulting a teenage black boy and black bicycle rider while on duty was found murdered at his home by his parents.
Yesterday afternoon, PC Declan Jones’ horrified father and mother discovered him at his home in Bromsgrove (Worcestershire). It is thought that he took his own life.
After being found guilty in August of assault, the 30-year-old was fired from West Midlands Police.
CCTV footage shows him pushing a black man, 44 years old, to the ground in Birmingham. Later, he punches and kicks him.
After wrongly accusing him in Newtown of owning drug, he was caught punching and kicking the teenager.
West Mercia Police officers attended Jones’ Bromsgrove home.
According to a spokesperson for the force, they were summoned to Bromsgrove on 28 December after receiving reports about concerns regarding man aged 30.
The man was declared dead around 12:45pm. We do not believe that there was any involvement by any other party in this death. The Coroner will prepare a report.
Jones was pictured at the courthouse in August. He was arrested in October 2020 following an Independent Office for Police Conduct inquiry
Coventry Magistrates Court saw security footage from PC Jones, 44, grabbing Michael Rose off of his bike in middle of street in Aston in Birmingham on April 20, 2020.
He believed that he had stolen his phone. Jones punched Mr Rose in the back three times while holding him down by a female police officer.
Surreal footage of the incident shows that the officer did not stop the assault until a silver Ford Focus passed the spot. As his colleague placed the handcuffs on, the officer appeared to punch the man once more before kneeing him in both the sides. Many passersby called for the officer’s immediate stop but Jones replied by slamming Rose against his car.
Jones, who was not identified for legal reasons was captured on video kicking the boy the day after.
Jones was captured wrestling with the child in video footage. Jones claimed that he used reasonable force to defend himself, but after five days of trial at the Coventry Magistrates’ Court, he was found guilty for using illegal force.
Shamim Qureshi, District Judge, said that the complainants are of good character and rejected Jones’ claim that they only sought compensation. The officer’s use force during both instances was ‘unlawful,’ he said.
He explained that “none of the complaining parties went straight to the police to make an allegation about assault.” The police advised them in the local community that they should have done so.
At an expedited misconduct hearing, Jones was immediately dismissed by West Midlands Police Chief Constabulary Sir David Thompson after the guilty verdicts.
Sir David stated that Jones’ conduct was clearly below the standards expected from police officers. It is illegal and it has had serious consequences for the West Midlands Police.
“I fully apologize to the victims of this case. “I can’t see any other sanction than that the officer should be fired without notice.”
Sir David stated that the case was also about a national concern regarding the use force of police officers on black members.
He said, “Getting it right is imperative to ensure our black communities understand this. This applies to me as well as every other right-thinking officer on the force. This requires us all to work harder to improve our forces and remove the damage that these police officers have done.
The Independence Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), investigated the incident but did not conclude that Jones was guilty of gross misconduct regarding discrimination accusations made by the victims.
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