Met Police cop ‘risked George Floyd-style incident’ when he restrained struggling suspect with choke hold
A JUDGE told a cop that he risked a George Floyd-style killing by restraining a patient with a choke hold.
PC Rajan Solanki was trying to handcuff suspect Shane Cogan when he began struggling.
The officer, 28, warned he would “choke out” Cogan in the hospital scuffle.
Judge Michael Snow warned Solanki: “We have to think back to George Floyd in America.
“That was a much more serious case, but we have to recognise the danger posed by such a manoeuvre.
“The starting point here is immediate custody.”
Prosecutor Ellen Alexander told Westminster magistrates’ court Cogan was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital after police were called to his home on June 9.
He was cuffed to a bed, but one hand was freed so he could urinate.
He then resisted having the handcuff replaced.
The court heard Solanki repeatedly said: “Put your hand on the f____g cuff. I’m going to choke you out.”
Cogan was said to be vulnerable due to a mental health condition.
Solanki, of Ilford, East London, has admitted assault.
He was bailed until a February 7 hearing.
Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck in 2020, sparking protests against police brutality.