Overview
- The confrontation occurred on June 21, 2022, when Sussex officers attended Park Beck care home after reports that 92-year-old Donald Burgess was holding a dinner knife and threatening staff.
- Body-worn footage played at the Sept. 30, 2026 hearing shows PC Stephen Smith spraying Mr Burgess with PAVA, striking with a baton, and PC Rachel Comotto discharging a Taser while Mr Burgess screamed and was later handcuffed and wheeled outside.
- Mr Burgess was taken to hospital after the incident, contracted Covid-19 there and died about three weeks later; the panel is not alleging the officers caused his death.
- PC Comotto has accepted she posted a Facebook reply hours after the incident that included a lightning-bolt emoji, told the panel the remark 'doesn't look good' and apologised to the family.
- Both officers were acquitted of assault at Southwark Crown Court in 2025 but now face gross-misconduct charges focused on force, judgment and culture, with the panel weighing disputed threat assessments about the knife and Comotto’s claim she tasered Mr Burgess to avoid a second baton strike.