Brickbat: Armed, Elderly, and Dangerous

Charles Oliver | 6.2.2025 4:00 AM

(Svershinsky | Dreamstime.com)

Two police officers in East Sussex, England, are accused of using excessive force against 93-year-old Donald Burgess, a wheelchair-bound amputee with dementia, after he threatened care home staff with a small knife. Within 83 seconds of entering his room, Officers Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto allegedly pepper-sprayed Burgess in the face, struck him with a baton, and tased him. Both have been charged with assault. Prosecutors argue the force was "unjustified and unlawful," while the officers claim their actions aligned with their training to disarm him quickly.