Met sergeant sacked for assaulting 73-year-old man in apparent road rage attack
A Met Police sergeant assaulted a man aged 73 in an apparent road rage incident — leaving the victim in “total fear”, a misconduct hearing has heard.
Paul Knight was driving a white van off-duty when he had a run-in with another motorist, who was on his way to collect a vacuum cleaner from a repair shop in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
A misconduct hearing was told Knight shouted, “What are you doing?” at the other man, before adding: “What f***ing awful driving is that?” Knight “placed his hands on shoulders and spun him round, causing (him) to almost lose balance”, the misconduct report set out.
The police officer was “inches” from the other man’s face and continued the confrontation, which happened in September 2023, when the victim went into the repair shop. He grabbed his shoulders again and said: “Are you going to deal with me?”
The hearing was told Knight pulled out his warrant card to identify himself as a police officer, and he was “verbally and physically aggressive” as the shop owner tried to defuse the situation.
Knight pleaded guilty in April to assault. He was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £500 in compensation. He quit the force before the misconduct hearing could take place.
In his ruling, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “Whilst physical harm caused appears to have been minimal, (the victim) experienced psychological distress and described ‘total fear’ about being assaulted.”
He ruled that Knight would have been dismissed without notice.
