Man in underpants tasered after threatening police officers with bicycle pump

A man from Farnborough, Hampshire, was tasered by police, while dressed only in boxer shorts, after threatening officers with a bicycle pump. Officers were called to the former home of Jason Kennedy late on April 23, following reports of a domestic dispute. They found the 26-year-old arguing with his partner in the street and warned the pair to stop. The officers were called back to the house in the early hours of the next morning after neighbors reported another argument. When Kennedy refused to co-operate, he was tasered and arrested. Kennedy appeared at Aldershot Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer in the execution of his duty. Prosecutor Serena Edwards said: “When the officers returned to the property, they found the defendant and his partner arguing. The defendant was holding an item which was later identified as a bicycle pump. He became very aggressive towards the officers, so much so that they pulled out a taser and ordered him to follow their instructions. He refused to calm down and, even after he was tasered, continued to threaten the officers with the item in his hands. He was taken into custody but was not co-operative.”
In a police interview, Kennedy said he felt stressed following a recent family bereavement and was ‘agitated’ by the arrival of police. Kennedy has previous convictions, including one for assaulting a police officer, and was last in court in October last year over a public order offense. Andrew Purkiss, defending, said Kennedy had often been homeless but had enjoyed a period of stability earlier this year while living with a relative. However, the relative died suddenly in February and this had ‘hit him for six’. Mr Purkiss said that, shortly before police returned to the house, Kennedy’s partner had asked him to go to McDonalds for food.
He was pumping the tyres on his bicycle for the trip when the officers arrived. “My client accepts he was upset, because he didn’t know why the officers were there,” Mr Purkiss said. “He accepts that he was rude to the police and his behavior was threatening, although there was no contact with the officers. He said the taser was excruciatingly painful and, as a result of this incident, he lost his accommodation so clearly he has already suffered. He didn’t go looking for trouble. He was at home in his boxer shorts when the police turned up.” Kennedy was fined £75 and ordered to pay a £150 criminal court charge, a £20 victim surcharge and £25 in court costs.