The first firing of a Taser stun gun in Northern Ireland was justified and proportionate, the Police Ombudsman found today.
Al Hutchinson was asked to investigate the circumstances of the weapon’s deployment in Londonderry in August last year.
Specialist PSNI officers used it to subdue 38-year-old Declan Smith, of Elaghmore Park in the city, after receiving a report in the early hours of the morning that he had locked himself in a house and was threatening to kill himself and his two young children - charges he was later acquitted of in court.
He was tasered after emerging from the property following three hours of negotiations. The officer who discharged the weapon said he felt it was necessary to stop the situation escalating.
Sinn Féin politicians and other community representatives branded the action excessive and when the case against Mr Smith was dropped in court, their criticism intensified.
But the ombudsman today praised the officers involved, claiming the Taser was the best means to resolve the situation.
“The use of a Taser represented a less lethal option compared to the potential use of live fire or impact \[baton] rounds at close range,” he said.
“Unlike handheld batons, it allowed officers to maintain a safe distance from a suspect they believed was armed with a knife.”
However, Mr Hutchinson did make a number of procedural recommendations to the police, including that they recirculate information to medical professionals on how to remove the barbs fired by Tasers.
He also suggested that the police should establish regional teams of negotiators to enable quicker responses to spontaneous incidents.
A PSNI spokesman welcomed the report’s conclusions.
The NI Policing Board said members would study the report’s findings in detail at the next meeting of its Human Rights and Professional Standards Committee in early September.