Statement on deployment of baton round in Ewell

Last night (27 June) at around 8.40pm, officers from Surrey Police attended an address in Gatley Avenue, Ewell, following reports of racially aggravated public order, and a man threatening to harm others with a knife.

During the incident police deployed a baton round against a man in his 40s. He was taken to hospital as a precaution, and later discharged with minor injuries (bruising to his stomach). He has been arrested on suspicion of affray and racially aggravated public order. He has now been taken to custody for questioning.

A second man, in his 30s, has also been arrested in connection with the same incident, on suspicion of affray and racially aggravated public order. He is also in custody for questioning. This is believed to be an isolated incident between two men who are known to each other, and we are not looking for anyone else at this time.

Chief Superintendent Clive Davies, divisional commander for East Surrey said:
"Due to the deployment of the baton round, we immediately notified the Independent Office for Police Conduct (who attended last night in an assessment role), and commenced our post-incident procedure. Although the level of injury sustained does not meet the threshold for a mandatory referral, we have chosen to voluntarily refer this to the IOPC for their consideration as we are committed to ensuring our actions are transparent and fully accountable.

"We appreciate there was a great deal of disturbance locally with road closures, the police helicopter, armed police and police dogs. We are grateful to the local community for their understanding and support last night, with public safety being a priority for us."

Officers investigating the public order are keen to speak to anyone who saw or heard anything in the area between 8pm and 10pm that may help us to understand the circumstances. In particular we know there were a number of people recording the incident on mobile phones, and we believe it may also have been captured on dash-cam, helmet-cam, video doorbells and CCTV. We would ask anyone in the area who has footage that could assist the investigation, or heard or saw anything, to make contact.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey Police on 101, or via the online reporting system at https://www.surrey.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/ quoting reference PR/452000066154.

You can also report any information, anonymously, to the independent charity Crimestoppers on https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ or 0800 555 111.