A 12-year-old boy in pyjamas was forced to the ground and handcuffed by three police officers who confiscated his electric scooter, footage appears to show.
South Wales Police has faced criticism over its use of force against Zain Evans, who officers found exploring an abandoned chapel in Pontardawe, in Swansea Valley, on Wednesday.
Zain was later treated in hospital for muscular injuries and cuts caused by broken glass on the ground, according to his mother, Emily Evans.
Mobile phone footage shows Zain, dressed in Hello Kitty pyjama trousers, a hoodie and a cycling helmet, helping a female officer carry his scooter through an overgrown alley beside the old chapel.
From behind the camera, another boy can be heard asking: ‘Are you taking his scooter? He’s only been walking it. He hasn’t driven it once.’
The officer responds: ‘Oh, please. I wasn’t born yesterday. Stop lying.’
Zain then stands in the scooter’s path and says: ‘What are you doing with it? You’re not taking it. I’m not letting you – I’ve got school.’
A male officer walks towards him and tells him to ‘move out of the way’. He then grabs Zain from behind and says the boy is under arrest.
Zain Evans, 12, was forced to the ground and handcuffed by police officers as they confiscated his electric scooter
Footage showed the boy screaming in pain as officers placed him in handcuffs
Officers had found Zain and his friends exploring an abandoned chapel in Pontardawe, Swansea Valley
The two officers push Zain against metal railings before wrestling him to the ground. As he cries out in pain, the boy can be heard pleading: ‘No, please!’
Ms Evans told the Daily Mail that officers pulled Zain’s arms behind his back with such force that he heard a ‘pop’.
Police reportedly seized Zain’s scooter and phone, along with his friend’s phone. The following day, they also visited the friend’s farm and took away his electric scooter, according to the report.
Zain and his mother went to hospital in Port Talbot on Thursday, where doctors placed his arm in a sling.
Ms Evans said Zain had been taking the scooter to a friend’s house to have it inspected after its electrics stopped working. He entered the abandoned church with two friends while they were exploring the site.
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She insisted that Zain could not have been riding the scooter because it was broken.
Officers found the boys inside and escorted them back to the street before deciding to detain Zain, although he was not formally arrested.
Ms Evans told the Mail that she drove past while Zain was being detained.
Zain was taken to hospital the following day and had his arm placed in a sling, reportedly after suffering muscle damage
He also suffered cuts to the back of his legs, which his mother said were from broken glass on the ground
Emily Evans said she was ‘heartbroken’ to come across her son screaming in pain with two officers over him
She said: ‘It absolutely broke me to the core. That child is a darling, he’s got a heart of gold. If someone is getting bullied, he takes them under this wing.
‘There was broken glass on the floor, which they forced him onto, cutting the back of his leg. They also flung his arms around his back so hard that Zain heard a pop.
‘He hasn’t been himself since this all happened on Wednesday. He’s been very nervous and had to sleep in with me.
‘My kids have been brought up fairly. If they do wrong, they are punished. But what the police did her was completely out of order.’
Ms Evans said South Wales Police gave her a phone number to call to enquire about the return of the two e-scooters, but when she did so the compound had no knowledge of the seized vehicles.
She also claimed the force had been unaware that three officers were present at the incident, believing there were only two.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: ‘Officers observed a suspected incident of criminal damage to a disused church on Swansea Road, Pontardawe at around 2:15pm on Wednesday October 28.
‘While attending this incident, officers conducted searches of individuals believed to have committed offences and seized an e-scooter which was believed to have been used illegally.
‘We are aware of footage of this incident which has been circulated on social media and understand concern from the community in regards to use of force.
‘The mother of the young person has been contacted by officers and the incident has been referred for review by our Professional Standards Department.’