A charity has called on a police watchdog to “look closely” at an incident where officers dragged an autistic woman out of a shop.
The National Autistic Society (NAS) made the call after the officers forced 19-year-old Katie Mitchell out of a shop in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
Katie Mitchell being dragged out of the shop in Lisburn
The shop, called CeX, is part of a chain that buys and sells video games and digital devices.
Teen wanted a £2 DVD
Katie, who cannot speak, wanted to buy a £2 Thomas the Tank Engine DVD.
Even though there were still customers in the shop, it had closed its tills for the day. Katie could not buy the DVD.
The incident sparked outrage online last month after Katie’s sister Eileen Mitchell posted a video on Facebook of the police dragging Katie from the shop.
Mitchell said her mother pleaded with the shop’s staff to take £2 for the DVD and put it into the till the following day.
‘Horrific’
Tim Nicholls is assistant policy director for the NAS.
He called the incident “horrific”.
Nicholls urged the ombudsman to “look closely” at how “so much distress could have been avoided”.
Mitchell maintains one member of staff asked Katie’s mother if she had a “lead” to remove her from the shop.
She added that her mother told the staff member: “She’s not a dog. She’s autistic.”
Call to police backfires
Katie’s mother then called the police. She attempted to explain the situation to the officers.
But the five officers “forcibly removed” Katie, said Mitchell.
Meanwhile, the Police ombudsman is now considering whether to investigate the officers.
The ombudsman’s office said it was reviewing police documentation, CCTV, and body-worn video and trying to obtain further information from the family.
Police view
Superintendent Kelly Moore, Lisburn and Castlereagh district commander, maintains that Katie was removed from the shop by a “family member (Katie’s father), assisted by police”.
The commander also said one of her officers was injured during the incident.
But in her Facebook post, Mitchell wrote that her father “fearing she might be injured, tried to intervene when one officer began twisting her arms”.
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Published: 6 January 2025
