Officers Sacked After Tasing and Pepper-Spraying Disabled Pensioner

Two police officers who pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton and used a Taser on a 92-year-old man with dementia at his care home have been dismissed for gross misconduct.

PC Stephen Smith, 52, and PC Rachel Comotto, 37, were sacked after a disciplinary hearing examined their treatment of Donald Burgess, a single-leg amputee who was sitting in his wheelchair when they confronted him.

Both officers have also been added to the College of Policing’s barred list, meaning they are prohibited from working in policing again.

The officers were called to Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, in June 2022 after Mr Burgess threatened staff with a dinner knife. He reportedly told them he wanted to stab them and would “take a great deal of pleasure” in doing so.

However, a misconduct panel concluded that the officers used unjustified and excessive force against the vulnerable pensioner. It also found they failed to assess the circumstances properly or make meaningful efforts to de-escalate the incident.

Body-worn camera footage showed Mr Burgess being sprayed in the face with Pava, a synthetic pepper spray, hit with a police baton and Tasered within 83 seconds of the officers entering his room.

The panel described PC Smith’s conduct as dismissive and intolerant, saying he showed no compassion. PC Comotto was characterised as antagonistic and similarly lacking compassion.

The panel ruled that both officers had breached professional standards and had escalated an incident in which there was “no threat”.

Mr Burgess had been separated from other residents in his own room and did not pose a danger to them, Assistant Chief Constable Peter Gardner told the hearing.

According to the panel, PC Smith drew his Pava spray just nine seconds after entering the room and “made no attempt to assess or understand” Mr Burgess’s vulnerability.

The panel found the decision to use the spray unreasonable. PC Smith was also criticised for not considering whether the pensioner could simply have been left in his room to calm down.

Footage played during the hearing showed PC Smith repeatedly instructing Mr Burgess to put down the knife.

He told him: “Do you want to be sprayed or Tasered? It’s up to you. Can you put that down for us?”

Mr Burgess did not comply with the instruction.

PC Smith then warned him: “Do you want to put the knife down mate for me or you will be sprayed or tasered. It’s up to you. Do you want to put it down for me?

“Put it on the floor Donald don’t be silly. Come on, don’t be silly. We can solve this without having to resort to this.”

When the pensioner continued to hold the knife, the officer raised his voice and shouted: “Do as you’re told. Put it down. Put it down. Donald put it down. Seriously, put it down. Last chance. Put it down now. Drop the knife. Drop the knife!”

He then sprayed Mr Burgess directly in the face.

When the pensioner still did not drop the knife, PC Smith hit him with his baton before PC Comotto deployed her Taser.

The footage showed Mr Burgess screaming in pain as the 50,000-volt weapon was discharged into his body.

PC Comotto shouted ‘Taser, Taser’ before firing.

The panel found her conduct was also unreasonable and criticised her for giving Mr Burgess only limited time to respond to her commands.

Statements such as ‘last chance’ and ‘seriously’ were deemed inappropriate, with the panel describing her manner as antagonistic.

A second piece of body-worn footage showed the pensioner struggling to breathe after being pepper-sprayed.

PC Comotto asked him: ‘Donald. How’re you feeling?’

He replied: ‘I’m dying.’

The officers then handcuffed Mr Burgess and wheeled him out of the care home to give him fresh air.

He was taken to hospital after the incident, where he contracted Covid-19 and died 22 days later.

The disciplinary hearing did not find that the officers’ actions contributed to his death.

Smith and Comotto were previously cleared of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a trial in May 2025.

The criminal case followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct into the use of force against Mr Burgess.

But the IOPC investigation led to recommendations that the officers face a gross misconduct hearing over potential breaches of standards covering the use of force, as well as authority, respect and courtesy.

During the disciplinary hearing, force lawyer Aaron Rathmell said the officers had ‘acted, hastily, harshly and lost control’.

PC Comotto also faced a separate allegation over comments she made on Facebook after the incident.

The hearing was told she had responded to a colleague’s birthday post with the words: ‘We all know what happens in care homes’ followed by a lightning emoji.

The colleague replied: ‘I think you’ll be banned from going to any care homes in future. All he wanted to do was butter his bread,’ followed by two laughing emojis.

Comotto admitted the Facebook comment ‘doesn’t look good’ and apologised to Mr Burgess’s family.

But she insisted it was not intended to mock the pensioner and said she had made the remark after becoming the target of jokes from colleagues about the incident.

She told the hearing fellow officers had been ‘laughing and joking’ at her because she had used her Taser on a vulnerable patient in a dementia care home.

Asked by her lawyer Colin Banham whether they had been ‘ribbing’ her, she said: ‘They did not know the details but they were laughing and joking at my expense. It was throughout the office.’

She said the comment was a continuation of the joke and that she had been ‘the target of the joke, not Mr Burgess’.

She added: ‘With hindsight and without context it doesn’t look good and I want to extend my apologies to the family.’

The misconduct panel ultimately found gross misconduct proven against both officers.

Mr Burgess’ family blasted the actions of the two police officers, they said the behaviour of both officers was ‘disgusting’ and said they felt ‘shattered and numb’ by the last four years.

Speaking at the end of the disciplinary hearing, Jason Pye, Mr Burgess’ great nephew, said: ‘Donald was suffering from a UTI and delirium associated with dementia.’

He said: ‘Donald was much loved in a family man. We want him to be remembered for the life he lived not simply for the events that brought us to this point.’

‘The panel’s decision to dismiss PC Smith and PC. Comotto for gross misconduct will not change what Donald experienced on the day.

He added: ‘To have officers like that on the street is not what anybody wants to see in their communities. So, I hope that this is a warning to all officers that show that sort of behaviour going forward.’

Asked what he thought of the actions of the officers’ he said: ‘Disgusting.’

Speaking afterwards Deputy Chief Constable of Sussex Police, Paul Court, said: “The body warm video remains difficult to watch. Like many, I was appalled by the actions of the officers.

“The force used against Mr. Burgess by the two officers was excessive, unnecessary, and in no way reflects the expectations of those who serve in Sussex Police.

“Police officers can find themselves in challenging and unpredictable situations, where they make split second decisions to keep the public safe and they must do so with measure, compassion and skill. This was not one of those occasions. Any use of force must be reasonable, necessary, and proportionate and officers know they will be held to account for their actions on all occasions.

“Mr. Burgess was not afforded the care he deserved. The officer’s interactions lacked compassion and professionalism that should have been shown and that the public rightly expect.

“I expect officers to show empathy with those they deal with, restraint in their actions and humility when things go wrong. The absence of these qualities make the two officers unsuitable to serve the communities of Sussex and they’ve rightly been dismissed without notice and would be unable to work in policing again.”