I have actually been Publicly Crucified for Arresting A Knife-wielding Teenager

All week, the tributes have actually put in. Those whose lives were touched by PC Lorne Castle haven't thought twice to come forward. One woman's account of how her son's life was saved by his 'generosity and humankind' and determination to 'exceed what is anticipated of a policeman' is particularly moving.

She discussed how the struggling teenager lost his method life and became known to authorities, who were forever needing to bring him home. It was PC Castle, himself a father of 3, who wound up talking her kid below the ledge, in a metaphorical sense in addition to an actual one.

Not just did he make the teenager see that he had a future, he assisted him carve one out by organizing work experience, even though this was not his job. 'We require more officers like PC Castle, not less,' this grateful mom concluded.

'That one made me well up,' says Lorne, 46, who is sitting in his living room in a peaceful residential street in Bournemouth, sorting through the countless messages he has actually received today - some from complete strangers, but others from those he directly assisted.

He seems rather overloaded and a little teary (extremely uncharacteristic, 'or it was before all this', according to his better half Denise), by all the good things people have been saying about him.

'It's blown me away, to be truthful,' he says. 'To have individuals come back to stand up for me. I'm not used to this, however it's truly touching.' He reads on, on the brink of tears: 'If I 'd passed away, you could not have got better homages.'

And in a way he has died, because, as he points out: 'I'm not dead but the law enforcement officer I was is dead. PC 1399 is dead.'

Who eliminated PC Castle? Well, according to his bosses at Dorset Police, the fatal wound was entirely self-inflicted. Recently, he was fired - 'in such a way that was ruthless. Alan Sugar fires individuals in a nicer method,' he says - after being found guilty of gross misconduct.

'I'm not dead but the police officer I was is dead. PC 1399 is dead,' states Castle

His crime? One that was deemed so serious that it erased 10 years of unblemished service including citations for bravery.

He apprehended a teenage suspect - later on discovered to have remained in belongings of a knife - without showing adequate 'courtesy or regard'. While grappling on the ground with the 15-year-old, who was withstanding arrest in January last year, PC Castle yelled, swore and pointed his finger at the suspect, who was proclaiming his innocence.

In the cold light of day, safe in his own home, having just waved his youngest daughter off to bed, Lorne, recently out of work, still can't rather think that finger-pointing helped lose him his whole profession.

He raises the offending finger today and waggles it in front of his own nose. 'I need to holster this,' he states, despairingly. Nor can he accept a few of the concerns he needed to answer during a 'terrible and humiliating' three-day gross misconduct hearing.

'For a law enforcement officer, the concept of gross misconduct is simply the worst, however one of the important things I was asked was if I had not heard the suspect state that he had not done anything. Did I not look at him and think he might be telling the reality?' He throws both hands up.

'Were they seriously asking me why I didn't fall for the old, 'it wasn't me, guv' line. Most suspects withstanding arrest state they haven't done anything. I indicate a kid understands that.

'Let's put this into context. We were examining an attack. I have actually apprehended him. He has actually withstood. I'm having a hard time on the ground with him. There is a crowd gathering. I'm trying to include this situation however my priority is to make this arrest and keep everyone safe.

'So when he states he hasn't done anything, I'm seriously expected to stop and state, 'Oh, you didn't do it? Dreadfully sorry, young Sir. Let me assist you up! Tally ho! My error!' This is a suspect who did have a knife.'

Denise, who says she 'was so happy to be the spouse of a cops officer', went to every day of her spouse's disciplinary hearing and has actually existed to choose up the pieces as his life broke down

The shock and confusion in his living room is palpable. As is the sheer disbelief. 'I imply, the audacity of even asking me that. But I understood even before the gross misconduct hearing began that I was walking to the gallows. And they hung me out to dry.'

He adds: 'Even if I win my appeal, even if I got my job back, I would not be able to do it.

'How might I stroll down the street with members of the general public thinking I'm a bully and a punk - all the things I went into the police force to challenge.

'My career is gone. I'm never ever going to get another job, due to the fact that who would provide me one. My life is ruined. They've broken me.'

Denise, who tells me she 'was so proud to be the wife of a police officer', attended every day of her other half's disciplinary hearing and has existed to get the pieces as his life fell apart.

The couple, who have children aged 27, 18 and 8, tell me that on the day Lorne was told he was dealing with gross misbehavior charges, he didn't go home - 'since how could I tell my other half?' - but strolled along Bournemouth beach until 3am. He was too surprised to think of walking into the sea and states he hasn't seriously contemplated suicide 'however can understand people who do, in this sort of scenario, due to the fact that the nature of this task isolates you from people who aren't cops, so when the carpet is pulled from under you ... you feel so alone'.

Denise says she has seen him 'shrink, become someone who just isn't Lorne'.

'My spouse is an outgoing, bubbly, glass-half-full individual, who is a natural leader and motivator,' she explains. 'He's the most moralistic individual I know - our children will back me up on that. And he's the sort of male who never ever called in ill even when he was ill.

'Since all this, I have actually just seen him alter. He breaks down now. He doubts himself. It has been devastating to enjoy. Even the kids state, 'he isn't Dad'.'

Their hero father, openly admired after plunging into the freezing River Avon to conserve an elderly female, is now making headlines for all the incorrect factors.

When the first murmurings began, suggesting this once-admired officer had actually been unfairly dealt with by 'woke' employers who were far eliminated from the truth of policing at street level, Dorset Police moved quickly to defend their position, releasing damning video footage, drawn from a coworker's body web cam, which does certainly show PC Castle in a not-too-flattering light.

He's recorded telling the suspect to 'stop yelling like a little b ** ch' and alerting him: 'I'm gon na smash you'.

This footage, Lorne claims, was provided out of context, cherry-picked to 'not tell the full story'.

'It was devastating that Dorset Police might do this to me, that they might wish to ... damage me,' he states. 'What that selective video footage didn't reveal was the after-effects - when this suspect continued to withstand arrest.

'It took four officers to get him in handcuffs. That video footage doesn't show the crowd around us, whom I could see in my peripheral vision.

'There was only one 999 call made about what was occurring there and it came from a member of the public who was worried about me. They contacted us to state that there was an officer struggling, who looked as if he needed back up.'

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Lorne includes: 'Dorset Police didn't even think it was required to call that individual as a witness in my disciplinary hearing. I had to firmly insist on it. It paints a really various photo to what happened and I thank goodness that witness was there, since otherwise I 'd think I was going mad.'

This is an exceptionally unpleasant - and divisive - case. There is no concern that Lorne made judgment errors in his handling of that arrest on January 27, 2024.

He admitted as much throughout the misconduct hearing and repeats that belief today. 'I must not have used the language I did. I'm embarrassed and saddened that I did that, which it's out there for everybody to see. But the essence of what occurred was, unfortunately needed. That was an arrest that required to be made and I made a judgment call.

'Could I have done it differently? Obviously, but ultimately I took a knife off the streets. Another authorities force has this slogan, 'Take a knife; Save a Life'. My force said, 'Take a knife; Get your P45'.'

Did he deserve to lose his career? 'I do not think that's one for me to address,' he says, however his spouse has no qualms. 'No, he did not,' Denise states firmly.

'They headed out to string him up. Once they chose that they were going for gross misconduct, they went trying to find things to support that. I sat there and could not think what they were doing.

'They have ruined a great man and taken an excellent policeman off the streets. I still can't believe this. This entire thing feels like such an infraction.'

There has been outrage about Lorne's termination, notably from those who were once in the ranks of Dorset Police.

Former Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martyn Underhill informed Radio Solent this week: 'This officer overreacted, utilized bad language - that's about it. We're ending up being too woke. I believe Dorset Police have got this massively wrong. Do I believe he was worthy of to lose his job? Never.'

It is particularly ravaging for Lorne that it was coworkers who initially grumbled about his handling of that arrest. He will not talk about their participation, however it is understood that the 2 junior officers who saw it had just remained in the job for 6 months.

It is likewise comprehended that while, initially, it did not look as if misbehavior charges were likely, the decision was required to initiate them. Lorne was notified of this by Superintendent Ricky Dhanda, head of Professional Standards.

In an amazing twist, Mr Dhanda has himself been put on limited duties while he is examined over sexual misconduct claims. 'Maybe me and him have various decision-making procedures,' is all Lorne will say. So who is Lorne Castle - and how will history judge him?

His route into the police force was a little uncommon. He matured in Torquay however relocated to nearby Bournemouth to go to university, where he studied law.

An eager sportsman and martial arts professional, he satisfied Denise - who would go on to be a world champ Muay Thai fighter - and they set up a sports academy together.

It was his work with youths that brought him into contact with the male who would become his mentor - former Chief Inspector Chris Amey, who had a long career with both the Met and Dorset Police.

He met Lorne in 2013 and was impressed by his drive and commitment on a youth project. He persuaded him to sign up with the police - first as a community assistance officer, then as a PC. Denise concurred that he had 'found his location' in the cops.

Undoubtedly, it was a profession at which Lorne stood out. In 2021, he was named neighborhood officer of the year, after having been two times awarded commendations.

In 2017, he conserved somebody in a medical emergency situation then, in 2023, he plunged into the Avon, swindling his stab vest to go into the water, ultimately holding a senior lady up.

He states it did take place to him that he was, technically, breaking all the guidelines and 'might deal with murder charges' if his attempts to get the lady to hold on to a life ring failed.

'It did go through my mind that expert requirements might tell me I wasn't expected to go in, that I was trying to be a hero. That is the world we run in.'

But his desire to do the right thing triumphed and he received an award from the Humane Society for that rescue.

Fellow officers 'who had held the ropes as I went in' were likewise applauded however, bizarrely, when it concerned the invites for the ceremony, Lorne didn't receive one.

'I 'd been put on restricted tasks already [after the occurrence with the teen] and informed my superiors were going to 'hold onto' mine until after the misbehavior proceedings.' He raged, and deeply harmed. 'The other officers weren't going to go without me and I did eventually go, but it felt very much like being the kid at the party you weren't welcomed to.'

On the night of the controversial arrest, Lorne was at the end of an 11-hour shift when a call was available in about a violent masked wrongdoer, last seen driving an e-scooter, who was believed of attacking an elderly guy and a teenage boy.

Staff at a regional McDonald's had been terrified enough to close their doors before calling for aid. Earlier that day, police officers had actually been cautioned that there had actually been a big gang battle and potential suspects were still at big.

There was no factor for Lorne to take that call - the approaching shift might have handled it - but he says he offered, 'because that's what you do'.

The suspect was rapidly discovered and when he resisted arrest, Lorne 'took him down to the ground'.

This part is not contentious. The misbehavior hearing found no fault with the force utilized to take the suspect to the floor. It was the tussle that followed that was deemed troublesome.

Did PC Castle lose control? He worries how laden that situation was. 'As a policeman, you enter into the unknown and there is a worry there.' He mentions that his managers released a damning statement which consistently described the suspect as a 15-year-old kid.

'The story was that he was terrified of me. But he never ever made a problem. I would argue that he was frightened of getting caught.

'And I did not know he was 15 - to ride an e-scooter you have to be 16. Even if I had understood, should I have kept back since of his age? That is doing an injustice to every household who have lost someone because they were stabbed by a teenager. No, I did not understand that he had a knife, however it was my job to do a threat assessment and I have to state my assessment was area on.'

The knife that fell from the suspect's waistband was small however possibly fatal, especially at close quarters, he mentions.

'Do you understand just how much area you need for a machete to be deadly? Quite a lot, due to the fact that it requires a swing. A knife like this? With a tiny movement you can be speaking about a severed artery.'

He shakes his head. 'I can keep stating sorry for swearing. But I made that arrest. I took a knife off the streets. There was no injury. No grievance from the suspect.'

Did he go off that shift believing that it had been a disaster?

'Quite the opposite. I keep in mind thinking of the knife and going: 'Jeez, that was close. That might have gone terribly'.'

He will not criticise the junior officers who raised the grievance, besides to refer me to that witness who called 999. 'He believed I was on my own there.'

But the feeling that he has been let down by his superiors is clear. 'I believed we were all working towards the exact same thing, which is keeping our neighborhood safe. That's all I have ever attempted to do and I have actually been publicly destroyed for it.' Lorne explains needing to hand over his badge as 'the worst moment in my life'.

He says he is almost afraid to stroll the streets he when patrolled now. 'Dorset Police have actually put a target on my head. I don't even understand if we can stay here, as a household, which is heartbreaking due to the fact that this is our community.'

The only advantage is the swell of assistance from those who think he has actually been wronged. A GoFundMe account, established by Chris Amey, the male who encouraged him to join the cops, was last night standing at ₤ 95,000. 'I'm simply humbled, but so grateful. It means I can pay the mortgage, for now anyway.'

He goes back to those messages once again. One sent out on Facebook originates from another mom, Sarah Robinson, who lost her child Cameron Hamilton in 2023. The

18-year-old was stabbed to death by another teen in Bournemouth. 'As the mum of Cameron Hamilton, who was eliminated by someone using a knife, I thank you for doing your job,' she composed. 'I am saddened that the police force has lost such an excellent officer.'