West Midlands Police officer, PC Richard Mannox, has been sacked for hitting a football fan during an arrest outside a stadium.
Mannox, was dismissed for using excessive force during the arrest of a Barrow fan, Edward Papas, after a match at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium on March 4th, 2023.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found that Mannox pushed and struck Papas in the face, using unreasonable force, and acted aggressively, swearing and threatening him.
A misconduct hearing concluded Mannox’s actions were inappropriate, leading to his barring from policing.
Papas was cleared of assault charges in January 2024, with West Midlands Police saying in a statement that such behaviour is not representative of their standards, and they will take action against officers who fall short.
2 years later.. do the right thing and dismiss and charge PC Mannox 20261. @WMPolice @policeconduct @CPSUK https://t.co/MAAZvJVafZ pic.twitter.com/4pS0LBkqOJ
— Edd 🏴 (@E7P__) June 2, 2025
@E7P__ tweeted on the January 2024: “10 months ago, I was assaulted by PC Richard Mannox of @WMPolice multiple times and on one occasion he threatened me by saying “I’ll break you f***ing fingers” before attempting to punch me. I was charged with assaulting him after I acted in self defence, I was found not guilty.”
@E7P__ tweeted on the 4th and 5th of June: “2 years later.. do the right thing and dismiss and charge PC Mannox 20261. @WMPolice @policeconduct @CPSUK.”
“He’s been found guilty of breaching all three standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct. Sacking and civil action imminent ⏳”
“Very thrilled to announce that as of today PC Richard Mannox 20261 has been SACKED from @WMPolice. I would like to thank everyone at the IOPC for their assistance and for taking this case seriously throughout the past year. A very special mention to my defence team at @MaryMonsonLaw for bringing his antics to light during my trial.”
His collar number pic.twitter.com/2QagTYcmYa
— Edd 🏴 (@E7P__) January 10, 2024
IOPC statement:
A West Midlands Police (WMP) officer has been dismissed after allegations of using excessive force during the arrest of a man at a Walsall football match were proven.
At the conclusion of a four-day misconduct hearing held at the headquarters of West Midlands Police, a panel, chaired by an Assistant Chief Constable, found PC Richard Mannox, had breached policing standards of professional behaviour including use of force and discreditable conduct.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “Police professional standards state that officers should act with self-control and tolerance, treating members of the public with respect and courtesy. In this instance the evidence we gathered showed how the officer used a confrontational approach from the outset when he engaged with the football fan, speaking aggressively before swearing and threatening the man. This then quickly escalated to PC Mannox pushing the man and hitting him across the face.
“Today, the panel has agreed that this use of force was not reasonable, proportionate or necessary in the circumstances and PC Mannox has now been barred from policing.
“Footage from the incident was widely circulated and hopefully this outcome will help to show that officers will be held to account for excessive force.”
Our investigation began when a complaint was referred to us by WMP in January 2024 after the complainant had been cleared by a court of assaulting police during a Walsall Football Club match against Barrow on 4 March 2023. The football supporter alleged that he had been punched and threatened by officers rather than it being the man who had assaulted the officers present.
As part of our enquiries we analysed the available BWV and CCTV footage, interviewed the complainant and the officers involved and obtained statements from several witnesses.
At the end our six-month investigation we found that PC Mannox had a case to answer for gross misconduct over his use of force and other alleged breaches of policing standards of professional behaviour.
Twitter users reacted after a police officer was sacked for hitting football fan during an arrest outside the stadium…
@LewisJamesHaigh: Glad you’ve managed to get some sort of justice Ed!
@Joestokecity: Glad you’ve got some justice mate, don’t know who they think they are at times.
@paulyc71: Brilliant result. Been getting away with it for years probably.
@DaveGreen1987: 🙌🏻 Brilliant news mate! Justice is served. Well done again for sticking with it, I’m sure it will encourage more people to stand up to corruption in the future 👍🏼
@durhamchris1983: Things you love to see. Well done fella.
@kieran_wilson24: Edd will tear you apart, again!
@JayBex8391: Yes mate 👏, about time though isn’t it 👍
@RonanMacca99: Justice finally served
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