Luke Sumner found guilty of assaulting five police officers at QEQM Hospital and Margate police station
00:01, 28 March 2019
updated: 10:09, 29 March 2019
A young dad who assaulted five police officers after they tried to remove him from a hospital waiting room has been fined £600.
Luke Sumner, 22, had denied all charges connected to the violence at Margate’s QEQM but was convicted after a three-day trial.
Margate Magistrates’ Court heard the father-of-two had approached two officers - PC White and PC Nash - who were assisting a mental health patient in the early hours of Tuesday, August 21, last year.
Prosecutor Anna Kachingwe said: “Mr Sumner came along saying he wanted to be tasered, asking what could he do to be tasered.
“He said ‘I’ve got a knuckleduster and pepper spray at home’. He tried to get hold of PC White’s taser gun and tried to pull handcuffs from PC Nash’s belt.
“That is an act of someone trying to provoke officers.”
Almost an hour later Sumner, walked into the hospital waiting room and sat opposite the officers.
“His behaviour was unpredictable and the actions of the police officers were justified...” prosecutor Anna Kachingwe
He was asked to leave three times but refused, so police took the decision to remove him.
“His behaviour was unpredictable and the actions of the police officers were justified,” Mrs Kachingwe said.
“The patient PC White and PC Nash were with was getting intimidated.
“They did not know what was going on in Mr Sumner’s mind. He needed to be removed and was politely asked to leave.”
PC Meek and PC Kabin were called to the hospital to assist shortly before 4.50am, where they found Sumner struggling against fellow officers on the floor.
Sumner, of Meergate, Margate, was arrested and taken into custody at Margate police station - but not without a fight.
After kicking out “wildly”, officers were forced to carry him by his arms and legs into custody.
He was placed face-down on a mattress on the floor in a cell to “prevent further kicks”.
“They did not know what was going on in Mr Sumner’s mind..." prosecutor Anna Kachingwe
Sumner then rolled over and pushed his exposed genitals onto the boot of PC Scott, saying “you like that, don’t you?”, while using homophobic language.
Terry Knox, defending, argued Sumner had a legitimate reason for being in the hospital and only started resisting when officers placed their hands on him.
“At this point, he has done nothing wrong - he maybe had 50 minutes before, but not at this point,” he added.
Magistrates ruled the officers had acted lawfully and convicted Sumner of five charges. He was cleared of another.
He was fined £120 for each and ordered to pay £620 costs.
