Drunk police officer sacked after 'taser' confrontation

A drunk police officer who mimicked wielding a taser and was knocked out after a confrontation with a passer-by in a shopping centre has been sacked for gross misconduct.

PC Lee Ribera, of Norfolk Police, had "gone out that night as he was elated at passing his taser course", a force disciplinary hearing was told.

The officer was said to have been "heavily intoxicated" after going to a pub in Norwich city centre on 26 September.

Later that evening, the report stated the officer "attempted to push" a man backwards and was later punched to the floor and was "believed to be unconscious".

The report said PC Ribera, who joined the force in 2022, had been in The Bell pub and then entered the Castle Quarter Shopping Centre, where he got into the Vue cinema by going up the escalator, which was switched off because the cinema was closed.

This happened twice and on both occasions he was asked to leave by cinema staff, the report said.

Elsewhere in the shopping centre, he then "shouted words along the lines of 'is there a police officer with a Taser?' with his hands outstretched in front of him as though holding something".

He was "passed by a member of the public and the officer shouted 'police' and 'taser'," the report said.

A second man passed him just after 22:00 GMT and the officer attempted to grab the man and pushed him backwards with both hands.

"The officer further attempted to push the male backwards and a physical altercation followed," after the man asked the officer to leave him alone.

The report added the man "punched the officer numerous times" and the altercation ended with the officer "believed to be unconscious".

The hearing was told that the second passer by, who has never been traced, would have "suffered some level of physical harm".

The report said the incident would "likely undermine public confidence in policing" and CCTV cameras had provided evidence.

PC Ribera told the panel of his "deep regret and embarrassment" and expressed "his deepest apologies to all concerned", but he was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct.

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