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A former Derbyshire Police officer convicted of assault after pushing a handcuffed man into a police van would have been dismissed had he not resigned, a misconduct hearing found.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Julian Scales was a “young serving” officer who attended a crash at Glebe Avenue, Pinxton, in the early hours of 2 July last year.

A man was detained in handcuffs at the scene over a public order offence, before he was pushed by Scales on to a cage inside the police van - and was unable to resist the fall or “adequately protect himself”, the hearing was told on Friday.

Scales pleaded guilty to common assault and was sentenced at Chesterfield Magistrates' Court on 1 March.

The detainee did not suffer serious injuries, but the hearing was told it could have been more serious had he fallen a different way. 

Chief Constable Rachel Swann, who chaired the misconduct hearing, said Scales's actions and subsequent conviction amounted to gross misconduct as it breached professional codes of practice for police officers.

She said the fact a Derbyshire Police officer had been convicted of assault caused “significant harm” to public confidence within the force.

Scales - who did not attend the hearing - was also placed on the policing barred list following the misconduct hearing.

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