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A disciplinary panel has found that police officers Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto used excessive force when they Tasered a 92-year-old dementia patient with a leg amputation at Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea. The incident occurred in June 2022 after the resident, Donald Burgess, threatened staff with a dinner knife. Despite being acquitted of assault charges last year, both officers were found guilty of gross misconduct for their hasty and harsh actions, including improper use of pepper spray and failing to de-escalate the situation or show compassion towards Burgess's vulnerabilities.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In June 2022, PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto responded to an incident at Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea after resident Donald Burgess, a 92-year-old amputee with dementia, threatened carers with a dinner knife. The officers used excessive force, hitting Burgess with a baton, pepper spraying him with Pava, and Tasering him while he sat in his wheelchair in his bedroom. In May 2025, the officers were acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but were found guilty of gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes. The panel ruled that their actions constituted "unjustified and excessive use of force," breaching professional standards. Following the incident, Burgess was hospitalized and later died from complications due to contracting Covid 22 days after the event; however, the officers were not held responsible for his death. It remains undecided whether Smith and Comotto will be dismissed or receive a final written warning.
Written for “Taser Use On Elderly Excessive Force” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans left for article 60130 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-06
- Published
Two police officers who Tasered a 92-year-old amputee at a care home committed gross misconduct, a disciplinary panel has found.
asserted
panel → publish → misconduct
PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto, who were both acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in May 2025, had been called to Park Beck care home in St Leonards-on-Sea after resident Donald Burgess threatened carers with a dinner knife.
Burgess, who had dementia, was hit with a baton, pepper sprayed and Tasered as he sat in his wheelchair in his bedroom in June 2022.
At a hearing at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes, a panel decided there was "unjustified and excessive use of force" and gross misconduct had been proven for both officers.
uncertain
misconduct → acquit → officers
Burgess was taken to hospital after the incident, where he contracted Covid and died 22 days later, but the officers were not held responsible for his death.
asserted
officers → take → death
The misconduct panel found Comotto and Smith did not attempt to de-escalate the situation before using force and had breached standards of professional behaviour.
asserted
Comotto → find → behaviour
It is yet to be decided whether they will be dismissed from the force or given a final written warning.
asserted
they → decide → warning
During a week-long hearing, force lawyer Aaron Rathmell told the panel Smith, 52, and Comotto, 37, "acted, hastily, harshly and lost control".
asserted
Smith → tell → control
He said Smith had drawn the pepper spray within nine seconds of entering Burgess's room.
asserted
Smith → say → room
Bodyworn camera footage showed Smith walking into the room and saying: "Do you want to be sprayed or Tasered?
asserted
you → show → room
Can you put that down for us?"
asserted
you → put → us
Despite repeated requests, Burgess, who was a single leg amputee, did not drop the dinner knife.
asserted
who → repeat → knife
The panel found Smith "made no attempt to assess or understand" Burgess's vulnerability, while Comotto "showed no compassion".
asserted
Comotto → find → compassion
The following video contains distressing scenes.
asserted
video → follow → scenes
Smith failed to consider leaving the 92-year-old in his room to calm down, the panel found, plus the use of Pava, a type of pepper spray, was deemed unreasonable in the circumstances.
asserted
use → fail → circumstances
There was "limited mitigation" for this behaviour, it said.
asserted
it → be → behaviour
The panel also said Smith's tone and language towards Burgess was "dismissive in nature", while Comotto was "antagonistic".
asserted
Comotto → say → nature
Comotto's statements such as "last chance" or 'seriously" and giving Burgess limited time to respond were found to be inappropriate.
asserted
statements → give → time
The panel found her use of force to be unreasonable.
asserted
use → find → force
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Gardner said Burgess was in his own room, isolated from residents and posed no risk.
asserted
Burgess → say → risk
More information should have been ascertained from care home staff, he said.
asserted
he → ascertain → staff
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