Video captures moment man 'restrained by 8 officers' while taking bins out

A resident in Edinburgh, Scotland, has submitted a complaint to police after he claimed he was left bruised by officers following a ‘mental health check’ in the city

A man was slammed to the ground and handcuffed after being 'restrained by eight police officers' on his doorstep.

The Edinburgh resident has submitted a complaint to Police Scotland after he claimed he was left bruised by officers following a ‘mental health check’ in the city as he took out his bins last week.

Gabriels Ochnolichs, was outside when he was met by two officers at his flat in Muirhouse. He said his social worker had raised a wellbeing concern with police who responded by attending his home address. But their check-in took a terrible turn, with the 21-year-old accusing officers of behaving aggressively.

In footage recorded by his mum, an officer can be seen grabbing Gabriels by the neck before he is thrown to the ground and handcuffed.

In later footage, the young man can be seen with around eight officers on top of and around him. Gabriels is visible on the floor with leg restraints in place. He has now submitted a complaint to Police Scotland for the way he claimed he was treated by officers. The incident took place on Thursday January 8 at 4.20pm.

He told EdinburghLive about his ordeal and said: “I was detained by Police Scotland under mental health powers but it was a misunderstanding,” he said. “My phone was dead and so my social worker could not get in touch with me and became concerned.

“My mum was able to speak to them to let them know I was ok but they had already phoned the police. They came to my landing while I was taking the bin out.

“There were two police officers and without explanation they grabbed me. I kept asking why they were grabbing me and I was not resisting.

“They then restrained me, with an officer applying force to my neck, making it hard for me to breathe. I became distressed and shouted, asking why I was being choked and why this was happening, I began to struggle as they were hurting me.

“My mum and girlfriend watched it happen, they never told me it was a welfare check. They called for back up when I was on the ground and in handcuffs.

“They put restraints on my legs and there were a lot of officers on me. My mum started filming the incident and later was asked by police to delete or not share her footage to anyone or social media.

“My mother’s video shows officers restraining me, including contact around my neck. I am sharing this to raise concerns about the use of unnecessary force by police.”

Gabriels claimed the officers took the restraints off him after they had escorted him to a police van at the foot of his block. Police explained they were carrying out a welfare check at this time and Gabriels claims he challenged them on their use of force during the interaction.

“They have ruined my reputation. People in my block will think I have done something really bad," he added. "All of this could have been avoided and gone a different way if the police came up to me and talked about checking on my welfare. I have had it before and it did not go like this.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A complaint has been received by Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department and is currently under assessment."