The High Court has found that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was “irrational” after it failed to recommend misconduct proceedings against an officer who discharged his CS spray into the eyes of a student protester less than a metre away in a confined space.

PC Simon Lloyd discharged his CS gas on at least three occasions during a protest at Warwick University in December 2014. Students were holding a sit-in on campus as part of a national day of action against tuition fees. Amnesty International raised concerns about the way police used CS gas and tasers at the protest, saying: