An award-winning police responder who squirted pepper spray into the face of a ‘pain in the neck’ troublemaker faces being sacked after a judge convicted him of assault.
PC James Dang, 33, used his Pava spray to subdue Sean Moogan who was ‘clearly drunk and getting increasingly aggressive’ after he grabbed a fellow officer’s testicles and attempted to bite him whilst being led to a patrol car.
But the married father-of-two found himself placed on restricted duties after police body cam footage showed him spraying Moogan at close range when the suspect was no longer offering resistance.
He was subsequently charged following an investigation in which Moogan, from Liverpool, claimed he had been repeatedly punched by the officer whilst being led into the car before he was pulled and held to the ground as he was sprayed.
At Chester Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Jack McGarva ruled Moogan was an ‘extremely obnoxious and objectionable individual’ but branded Dang’s actions a ‘mistake’ and convicted him of assault by beating and fined him £880.
The Merseyside Police Response Officer of Year 2023 now faces a disciplinary hearing and possibly the loss of his job.
PC James Dang, 33, (pictured outside court) used the Pava spray to subdue Sean Moogan who was ‘clearly drunk and getting increasingly aggressive’
Moogan (pictured) claims he was left with blurred vision in his left eye, grazes and bruises to his head, swelling to the wrist and jaw and possible nerve damage to his left leg
The conviction will also pave the way for Moogan to sue Merseyside Police after he claimed he was left with blurred vision in his left eye, grazes and bruises to his head, swelling to the wrist and jaw and possible nerve damage to his left leg.
He has a history of drunken loutish behaviour and had once attacked a man who asked him to move tables in a pub.
In convicting Dang, Judge McGarva ruled Moogan was an ‘extremely obnoxious and objectionable individual’, but told the PC: ‘On this occasion you made a mistake. Whilst there was an element of terrible behaviour you had to deal with, I am afraid we have to expect high standards from our police officers.
‘I accept you are required to make judgments in very difficult situations and nobody expects you to go through a stage by stage process when confronted by idiots and thugs.
‘I am also sure that you did have reasonable grounds to arrest Mr Moogan. He was clearly drunk and disruptive and was getting increasingly aggressive.
‘He had a lot to drink and kicked out as he was getting into the police car. He was belligerent, interrupting and getting into the face of the officers. To put it in colloquial language, he was being a pain in the neck.
‘I am sure Mr Moogan kicked out when going in the car, was not compliant and was resisting.
‘I am sure he was aggressive and confrontational and I am sure putting him in the car was a reasonable use of force and necessary.
‘I am sure Mr Moogan grabbed one of the officers to the testicles. In fact I think it was probably reasonable for you to push and punch Mr Moogan in the car.
‘But you sprayed him while you are still warning him at a time when he was not flailing on the ground. It was instantaneous and he had got no chance to desist. I cannot see that it was necessary or reasonable.
Dang, the Merseyside Police Response Officer of 2023, now faces a disciplinary hearing and possibly the loss of his job
Moogan claimed he had been repeatedly punched by the officer whilst being led into the car before he was pulled and held to the ground as he was sprayed
‘I fully acknowledge being a police officer in the early hours of the morning in Liverpool city centre can be very stressful. I fully accept I am not a police officer and I am watching from the calm of the court.
‘It was certainly necessary for the officers to lean on Mr Moogan and cuff him – but it was not necessary to spray him in his eye.
‘You have gone beyond what is necessary or reasonable. The situation was under control. I have to find you guilty of assault on the basis of the use of the Pava which I do not feel was reasonable in the circumstances.’
The incident occurred at 2.25am on October 30 last year in Liverpool city centre after Moogan who had drunk three glasses of wine and four vodka lemonades had tried to get into a taxi only to be abusive to the driver and walk off.
PC Dang and a colleague were called to the scene by the cabbie and they caught up with Moogan further up the road.
Moogan told the hearing: ‘I asked them to put on the body cameras but Officer Dang refused, saying he did not have to. I was nervous for my safety as well as their safety and because Officer Dang refused to put his body cam on I wanted to record it on my phone.
‘But my phone was taken off me and the officers forced me into the back of the car. They had their hands around my shoulder and they started telling me to get into the car. I did not want to but I was going in anyway.
‘I recall being punched in the face. I was laid out on the back seat handcuffed. It was just one blow after another. My head was pushed into the floor and I also got Pava-ed as well. I had the handcuffs on and I was lying on my right side. My hand kept getting twisted by Officer Dang.
‘After other officers arrived I was put in the back of the van. After it started to move, the doors were opened and someone said to me, ‘I believe you are a bit of a hard case.’
I had a few drinks but I was not drunk. I was just asking ‘Why are you taking my phone off me? I’ve done nothing wrong.’ I may have raised my voice. But I did not assault anyone.’
Dang found himself placed on restricted duties after police body cam footage showed him spraying Moogan at close range when the suspect was no longer offering resistance
Moogan added: ‘I now feel vulnerable and intimidated when I see a police car or police officers. When I see a police car or officer I take a different route.
‘I do not live so far away from the police station so there is always a high police presence. It has had a negative impact on sleeping. I regularly hear sirens which remind me of the incident.’
Dang, who has a degree in business studies from Edge Hill University and worked as a teaching assistant until 2017 when he joined the police, said: ‘He was drunk and potentially under the influence of drugs as well.
‘He was slurring his speech. He could not maintain eye contact. His jaw was moving about consistent with what I believe to be drug use.
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‘I was trying to build a rapport with him and assess the situation but he was non-compliant verbally and I made the decision to arrest him for being drunk and disorderly.
‘I believed that handcuffs needed to be applied, to close the space down immediately, as a tactical option to prevent harm, to prevent him from hurting us or hurting himself. But when I took his phone, his behaviour escalated. He started shouting and that immediately indicated that he may potentially assault me.
‘At this point Mr Moogan was trying to push himself back and as we put him in the car he grabbed my colleagues genitals. He then went into the rear of the police vehicle but he fell back and actively kicking out before any of us are in the police car.
‘He made contact with my thigh area and caused immediate pain. He was stronger than me and overpowering me at that point. With his hand in a closed fist he punched me multiple times to the face and I could feel blood running down my nose.
‘I tried to detain him but he was trying to bite me and as per my training I was using the lowest level of force as a distraction. I asked my colleague to remove him out of the back of the car and I wanted him on the ground.
Dang has a degree in business studies from Edge Hill University and worked as a teaching assistant until 2017 when he joined the police
‘But he was not compliant and was still moving about. He was tensing up but still resisting our control. That indicated that he might try and assault me again or my colleague or even try and get up and run away.’
‘As I took hold of his arm I could feel his arms and muscles tense up and I perceived that he could have assaulted us further. We were in a live lane on a busy arterial road to the city centre and I was out breath and dazed. I warned him to stop resisting or he will be Pava-ed but he did not. I applied one short burst of Pava as per training.
‘We are taught that it’s a piece of personal protection equipment but also that we can use it in any circumstances that we can justify it. Any use of force we use can be subject to injury.’
But Michael O’Kane prosecuting told him: ‘When force is going to be used, as a deterrent you would make the suspect aware that force can be used and you do tell him ‘If you do not stop resisting, you will be Pava-ed’.
‘But you barely finish the sentence before you Pava Mr Moogan. There is not even a second before finishing that sentence and Pava-ing him. The footage would show he is lying a motionless position.’
Dang was also ordered to pay £400 in costs and a £362 victim surcharge.
Character references described his ‘calm, respectful, caring and empathetic approach to his work’ and telling of an incident in which he saved the life of a woman found hanging by the neck.
His counsel Miss Charlotte Noddings said: ‘He is on restricted duty and there will be consequences for this matter.’
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