An arrested man’s fingers were chopped off when a police station door was slammed shut, leading to calls for the force to fit ‘finger guards’.
Decorator Jamie Clark, 28, was left ‘screaming in agony’ and begging to be let out of the cell after losing his fingers, but says nobody came to help until a piece of his flesh was found in the corridor.
The father-of-one says he was pepper sprayed, stripped naked and bundled into the room in Llanelli, South Wales, after being wrongly accused of attempting to assault a police officer.
Mr Clark was left disabled for life despite being cleared of assaulting a police officer following his arrest
He was arrested after a row with his girlfriend but was later cleared of assaulting a Dyfed-Powys officer.
Mr Clark won a legal battle to obtain footage of the horrifying moment his fingers were severed.
He gave the video footage to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge any officer with misconduct.
Mr Clark was left screaming for help after his fingers were chopped off in the cell door hinge and says nobody came to help him until a body part was found in the corridor
But the watchdog has called on the force to consider safety guards on cell doors.
An IPCC spokesperson said: ‘The IPCC investigation into how Mr Clark sustained a serious hand injury in custody in Llanelli was completed in May.
‘In the lead investigator’s opinion there was insufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal could conclude that any Dyfed-Powys Police officer had a case to answer for misconduct.
‘The force accepted recommendations to remind custody officers that significant events and decisions should be recorded in detail and to ensure custody staff training looks at minimising any risk of injury to detainees during the closure of cell doors.
Footage shows the South Wales officers closing the door to the cell after Mr Clark says he was pepper sprayed and stripped
‘Dyfed-Powys Police also planned to assess the possibility of installing finger guards in custody suites.’
The video shows a naked Mr Clark running at the cell door as it was being closed, after was allegedly bundled in by six officers.
Mr Clark claims he was bundled into the cell by six officers.
‘I went to get out but that’s when I felt this huge pain and felt my flesh being torn away when the door was shut,’ he said.
‘I was screaming in agony. I was begging the officers to open the door but no one helped me.
‘I have never known fear and pain like it.’
Mr Clark was accused of attempting to assault PC Christopher Burton following his arrest in June last year.
Magistrates heard he tried to bite PC Burton while he and other officers attempted to get him into a police van and later taken to Llanelli Police Station.
When the door was shut, Mr Clark’s three fingers were chopped off in the hinge of the cell door
It was once he was in custody that Mr Clark suffered severe injuries when his hand was trapped in the hinge of a cell door.
The court heard PC Burton found a piece of the his finger in the hall.
Mr Clark was cleared in court after his solicitor fought to obtain a copy of the CCTV from police.
His solicitor Patrick Llewelyn said: ‘He was arrested for an offence he wasn’t prosecuted for and while being detained he suffered serious injuries which will be the subject of a complaint or civil claim.
Mr Clark can be seen looking down at his hand in horror after three of his fingers were severed in the accident
‘People expect to be treated fairly when they are dealing with the police.
‘We have seen evidence which suggests the police on this occasion deviated from the highest standards of practice.’
A police spokesman said: ‘Dyfed-Powys Police accepts the conclusion from the IPCC that there is no case of misconduct to answer in respect of a complaint from Mr Jamie Clark.
‘The force has complied with recommendations from the IPCC, including adding a new element around finger safety to training and reviewing the possibility of finger guards.’