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A police officer, PC Stephen Smith, is on trial for using excessive force against 92-year-old amputee Donald Burgess at a care home in June 2022, where Burgess allegedly threatened staff with a knife. Despite Smith’s claim that he did not see Burgess’s disability due to his focus on the knife, prosecutors argue that the force used was unnecessary given the pensioner’s age and condition. The incident, lasting just over a minute, involved Smith utilizing Pava spray and a baton, with his colleague PC Rachel Comotto deploying a Taser, leading to Burgess’s hospitalization and subsequent death three weeks later.
