CONCURRING OPINION OF JUDGE POWER-FORDE

It was with some hesitation and doubt that I voted with the majority in this case. Ultimately, however, I can acknowledge that not every slap will reach the threshold required for a violation of Article 3 to be found. The context, the characters and the circumstances are all relevant to the assessment that must be made. This case, involving as it does, a slap administered by police officers to juveniles in their custody, comes, by virtue of the specific circumstances, very close to the boundary of conduct prohibited by Article 3.

The facts disclose a history of tension and poor relations between the police authorities and the applicants ’ family dating back as far as 1999. That being so, it is odd that the first applicant was stopped when trying to enter his home and was taken to the police station in order to verify his identity. Given the ‘ history ’ , one might have expected that his identity and exact place of residence was already known to the police. The incident might, understandably, have given rise to a degree of frustration and anger on the part of the first applicant.

The applicants claim that whilst in custody, on separate occasions, they were each slapped, once, by police officers. Medical reports, contemporaneous with the periods of their detention, have been produced. These confirm bruising and shock. They corroborate the applicants ’ claims. The police have produced no plausible explanation for the injuries – albeit slight – which the applicants sustained whilst in custody.

If it is true that not every slap will meet the required threshold under Article 3, it is also true that the police officers, in this case, crossed a very serious line in striking the applicants, both of whom were juveniles at the relevant time. Whilst I can accept, with some hesitation, that the threshold required under Article 3 has not been met, my concurring vote should not be interpreted as signalling, in any way, that such conduct on the part of the police can ever be accepted or condoned. It cannot. Regardless of the insolence, arrogance or disrespectful ‘ attitude ’ that some young juveniles may display, they must not be assaulted in custody by police.