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readiness to concoct a story against him, but I was compelled to do so in this case as the only other officer in the corridor at the time witnessed the whole occurrence. After reviewing the case, I believe the officer was not justified in seizing him in some way, which I think could have been easily done without resorting to a blow, as the officer is a very powerful man. However, kicking him while he was on the ground was certainly not justified.
The investigation took into consideration that the prisoners had little or no chance of speaking to each other during the interval between the committal of the offence and its hearing, and that the two men are well-conducted prisoners. I arrive at the following conclusions: Supposing the prisoner to have struck the officer (the truth of which I very much doubt), the officer's action of kicking him in the face while he was on the ground was violent and cowardly.
I therefore consider the officer to have committed a violent and cowardly assault. Taking into consideration that he has only completed 4 months' service and has had a previous report against him during that time, I beg to recommend that he be dismissed as not having passed a satisfactory probation.