Police used a taser stun gun while arresting a severely epileptic man, a court heard.

Graham Richardson, 36, of Broadgate Drive, Horsforth, was tasered by officers when he was arrested at his home.

His arrest came two weeks after an incident on a bus in which he had punched a fellow passenger.

Richardson, who is partially sighted, appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court yesterday where he admitted assaulting Lee Morley on the bus on February 3 last year.

Prosecutor Anzal Hussain told the court Mr Morley had been sitting in the disabled persons’ section of the bus with his wife and baby.

Richardson, who has an IQ of 72, had told Mr Morley ‘You’re in the disabled seats’ before grabbing him and punching him twice, the court heard. Mr Morley then grabbed Richardson, who had an epileptic seizure.

Sarah Waddington, mitigating, said his condition meant he could not remember the incident and added that side effects of his medication included aggression.

She told the court police had used a taser on Richardson when they came to arrest him and that they had “not bothered checking” on the system to learn of his medical condition.

She said: “They should have been aware he is epileptic because it was on the computer. They didn’t bother checking.”

She said guidelines indicated there should be a risk of death or serious injury before a taser is used.

“They were there to arrest him for a Section 39 (assault),” she said. “It wasn’t necessary.”

She also said if someone is “red spotted” by a taser, the incident must be reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – a procedure she said was not followed.

Magistrates adjourned the case until May 10 for the preparation of pre-sentence reports on Richardson, who does volunteer work for Cancer Research in Otley.

Last night his father, David Richardson, said he was considering legal action against West Yorkshire Police.

Chief Inspector Elizabeth Belton, of West Yorkshire Police, said the use of the taser against Richardson was “proportionate”.

“While we are sensitive to the medical needs of others there is nothing in the policy guidelines which prohibits the use of tasers on those suffering with epilepsy,” she said. “Under the Police Reform Act, complaints against individual officers are sent to the IPCC, however, in this case, the complaint was about a policy matter and not the actions of the officers on the scene.”

  • Read the full story in Wednesday's T&A