Full Breakdown
Police Misconduct Hearing Over Taser Use on 92-Year-Old Care-Home Resident
By Drooid · · How we work
Incident and Disciplinary Hearing
In June 2022, Sussex Police officers PC Rachel Comotto and PC Stephen Smith responded to a report that Donald Burgess, a 92-year-old wheelchair-bound resident with dementia at Park Beck Care Home in St Leonards-on-Sea, was brandishing a small dinner knife. The officers entered Burgess’s room, used a baton, taser and incapacitating PAVA spray, and handcuffed him before taking him outside for fresh air. Burgess was later hospitalized, contracted COVID-19, suffered a cardiac arrest and died three weeks after the incident.
A gross-misconduct hearing at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes examined whether the officers breached standards on use of force, authority, respect and courtesy. The panel reviewed body-worn video showing the sequence of force used.
Use of Force Details
PC Stephen Smith ordered Burgess to drop the knife, then sprayed him in the face with PAVA spray and struck him with a baton. PC Rachel Comotto subsequently discharged her taser into Burgess’s chest. Burgess was heard shouting “I’m dying” while being handcuffed. Both officers were later acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Southwark Crown Court in May 2025 following an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation.
Officer’s Social-Media Comment and Apology
She later told the disciplinary panel that the remark was a reaction to colleagues joking about her use of the taser and that no humour was directed at Burgess.
Legal Outcomes and Ongoing Investigation
The misconduct hearing concluded that both officers faced allegations of gross misconduct, with an additional allegation against Comotto for the social-media comment. The panel did not find that the officers’ actions caused Burgess’s death. However, a coroner has indicated that an inquest into Burgess’s death could be reopened, leaving the matter unresolved pending further review.
