Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto

Introduction

Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto are former Sussex Police officers who were dismissed without notice for gross misconduct on 6 October 2026 over the force they used on Donald Burgess, a 92-year-old wheelchair-bound care home resident who was holding a cutlery knife. Within ninety seconds of arriving at the St Leonards-on-Sea care home on 21 June 2022, Smith discharged PAVA spray into Burgess’s face and struck the arm holding the knife with a baton, and Comotto discharged her Taser. Both officers will be placed on the police barred list. Burgess died in hospital on 13 July 2022; a pathologist determined the officers’ actions did not cause or contribute to his death.

Background Information

The officers were sent to the care home on 21 June 2022 after a report that a resident had a knife and was threatening to stab staff. Body-worn footage later showed that Burgess, who had an amputated leg and used a wheelchair, had been isolated in a room away from other residents and was holding a cutlery knife. The Independent Office for Police Conduct began an investigation in June 2022 following a voluntary referral from Sussex Police, concluded it six months later, and referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in June 2023 after receiving the pathologist’s full report. The officers were charged in March 2024 with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and were acquitted of those charges in May 2025.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Dismissal after criminal acquittal. The officers were acquitted of criminal charges in May 2025; the gross misconduct findings below were made at a police disciplinary panel on the civil standard, which is lower than the criminal standard.

The footage recorded Smith immediately telling Burgess to put the knife down or he would be sprayed or Tasered. The disciplinary panel found both officers breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to use of force, discreditable conduct, and authority, respect and courtesy. Comotto faced a further proven allegation over a comment she posted on Facebook shortly after the incident: replying to a friend’s light-hearted birthday remark about “the care home getting closer and closer”, she wrote “We all know what happens in care homes” followed by a lightning emoji.

IOPC Director of Engagement Emily Barry said the incident was not fast-paced and that neither the officers nor other residents were in immediate danger, describing Burgess as clearly posing little risk to the officers while isolated from other residents and holding only a cutlery knife. She said any use of force should have been a last resort and only used when necessary, and that rather than de-escalating, the officers immediately threatened Burgess with force and then discharged PAVA spray, struck him with a baton and Tasered him when he did not drop the knife. Her account of Comotto’s posting described further poor judgement in joking about Tasering Mr Burgess on social media afterwards, and she said their actions were clearly excessive and unreasonable and had damaged public trust in policing.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The IOPC said footage of the incident showing the force used on Burgess had caused widespread concern and anger, and expressed sympathy with his family. The disciplinary panel dismissed both officers without notice and ordered their placement on the barred list. The outcome closed a case that had already travelled through a criminal prosecution and acquittal, and left the dismissal — not a conviction — as the final finding against both officers.

The reported outcome does not record any public statement from Smith or Comotto in response to the panel’s findings.

Current Status

Smith and Comotto have been dismissed from Sussex Police and barred from future employment in policing. The criminal charges they faced ended in acquittal in May 2025, so no criminal conviction stands against either officer; the gross misconduct findings and dismissals of October 2026 are the operative outcomes on the public record.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Two serving police officers left the force with gross misconduct entries and barred-list status over a ninety-second encounter with an elderly disabled man that the police watchdog itself described as clearly excessive, four years after the incident and more than a year after a jury acquitted them. The case has become one of the reference points in the long-running debate about police use of force on vulnerable and elderly people, carried by the fact that the same conduct produced opposite outcomes in the criminal and disciplinary systems.

Sources

• Independent Office for Police Conduct, “Sussex officers sacked using excessive force on care home resident,” 6 October 2026 — source