Reece Richards: Police officer under criminal investigation after sex education actor’s arrest | Ents & Arts News

A police officer is under criminal investigation for potential assault after an actor claimed he was illegally arrested earlier this year.

Sex Education star Reece Richards said he was illegally arrested in September after being mistaken for a suspect he claimed “didn’t fit the description” of.

He claimed he was sprayed with an incapacitating fluid by police, thrown to the ground and kicked by officers.

The actor, who plays Eugene in the hit Netflix series, said the incident happened “just meters from my front door” in Fulham, west London, after he had finished performing in a production of Hairspray The Musical.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Wednesday that one of the officers involved in the arrest is being investigated for the potential offense of common assault.

The same officer is being investigated for potential gross misconduct and another officer is being investigated for potential misconduct.

“Get on the floor or I will pepper spray you”

Richards said that before he was arrested, he tried to point officers in the direction of two men he had seen running from a car.

He said the officer then yelled at him that he was under arrest and “demanded” that he get on the ground.

The actor said, “I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal.

“I calmly explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but an officer yelled, ‘get on the floor or I will pepper spray you.’

“Moments later three more officers ran at me. They sprayed me with pepper spray, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me.

“In a flash I was face down on the pavement with several officers holding me down and forcing my head into the ground.

“I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me exacerbated my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach.”

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The IOPC said the investigation “does not mean that disciplinary or criminal proceedings will necessarily follow”.

“At the conclusion of our investigation we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary action and whether a referral should be made to the Crown Prosecution Service,” it said.