Randeep Singh-Kular had complained that his religious head covering, a patka, was forcibly removed in a custody suite in Birmingham after he was arrested for a motoring offence on October 25, 2021.
He said that he was left traumatised and disrespected and claimed it was due to discrimination against him as a Sikh.
However, the IOPC found that the officer did nothing wrong following the hearing before an independent panel, led by a legally qualified chair during which body-worn footage and CCTV footage from the custody suite was assessed.
The sergeant who removed the head covering was found not to have breached police professional standards for authority, respect and courtesy, use of force, and equality and diversity.
The “Express & Star” newspaper, which attended the two-day hearing, reported that the panel was shown CCTV footage of the custody suite which showed four officers surrounding Kularand taking his patka off before it fell to the ground as he struggled. Kular told the panel removing his patka was like “stripping him naked”.
The incident sparked a huge protest outside the custody suite in Birmingham at the time, exacerbated by a fake video showing the patka had been stamped on. IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: “This incident caused significant unrest within the local community at the time. We established early on in our investigation that the man’s head covering was not stamped on at any stage. We carried out a thorough investigation and from the evidence gathered it was our opinion that for one officer there was a case to answer. That evidence has now been heard before a police disciplinary panel which found the allegations not proven.”
Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green told TOI: “We do not underestimate the impact this incident had on the man as well as the Sikh community, both locally and further afield. I would like to acknowledge the valuable support of our Sikh police officers who provided a perspective to this sensitive case.”