An off-duty City of London Police officer drunkenly assaulted a child in the street.
Manpreet Callo, 30, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, admitted an offence of assault by beating when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 3rd December 2025.
He was sentenced by the same court on Thursday, 15th January 2026.
Assault by beating, an offence contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody on summary conviction.
Callo approached and assaulted the 12-year-old boy at Hillhouse, Waltham Abbey, on the morning of Friday, 24th October 2025. He has been suspended from duty since then.
The circumstances of the offence, as accepted by virtue of Callo's admission, are that the 30-year-old grabbed and pulled the coat of the boy. The incident, which was no doubt terrifying for the boy concerned, might not sound that serious - however, it was clearly serious enough for concerned onlookers to call the police.
Speaking of Callo's conviction, Chief Superintendent Sanjay Anderson, Head of Professional Conduct at the City of London Police, said: "Callo was off duty and intoxicated when he assaulted a child in a public place.
"The incident was witnessed by members of the public who expressed concerns about Callo's behaviour and rightly called the police.
"His conviction will undoubtedly have affected trust and confidence in policing; the City of London Police will continue with misconduct proceedings as quickly as possible."
According to reports, Callo was fined £800 - which could mean anything, as there is no mention of surcharge, costs or compensation.
5 comments:
Joke of a sentence
It would appear (without knowing all of the facts) to be an A2 offence, given the age of the victim, enough distress for the public to call the police, and the aggravating factor of alcohol. That should have put it firmly in the community order territory.
There's definitely more to this case than meets an eye. Media coverage of court cases is often limited, omitting important context.
The assault took place on a Friday morning in October, "at Hillhouse", "in a public place", in the town of Waltham Abbey. Whether Hillhouse refers to Hillhouse C of E Primary School, the street, or elsewhere is unclear. Media reports don't specify. But with the child being 12 at the time, maybe he was on his way to school. If the assault was witnessed by parents, pupils, and/or school staff, this could have influenced perceptions of vulnerability and the degree of fear caused.
One key element completely missing from every report about the case is any explanation as to why Callo did it. Was there any prior interaction, association, or dispute between him and the child? Or perceived provocation on the officer's part (even if misguided due to intoxication)? Media accounts simply describe the act without addressing motive or background, a notable gap. Maybe further details will come out during Callo's misconduct hearing, if it goes ahead.
Personally I believe the sentence is lenient, but without knowing all the facts, I don't think my opinion is very meaningful.
The blog author now claims the assault occurred "in the street". What is the source for this? It seems odd that every other report simply refers to the scene of the crime as "Hillhouse".
I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I know that a school is not a public place. So that rules out the school. We must therefore state as fact that the assault took place on the street named Hillhouse. Sure, the news article doesn't explicitly specify, but had the commenter/commenters above done some basic research instead of overcomplicating things, they would know exactly which Hillhouse was being referred to.
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