Metro, on UK Politics, 1 November 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

Police handcuff boy, 12, and force him to the ground over e-scooter

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Officers accosted Zain Evans after they spotted him and a friend near an abandoned church in Swansea A 12-year-boy was hurled to the floor and placed in handcuffs . Zain Evans was exploring the disused church in Pontardawe, Swansea Valley, on Wednesday when he was suddenly accosted by officers on the afternoon of October 28. Police reportedly confiscated Zain’s scooter, as well as both his and a friend’s phone.

He is now in hospital receiving treatment for injuries caused by smashed glass, his mother Emily said. Footage showed Zain and his friend being confronted by police as the 12-year-old told officers he needed the scooter to get to school. The pair were taking the vehicle to be repaired at Zain’s friend’s house after its electrics stopped working, but noticed the desolate chapel on the way, recounted Ms Evans, who spotted her son being detained as she was driving by. http://facebook.com/reel/1982104115792721/?s=single_unit ‘That child is a darling, he’s got a heart of gold’, she told Daily Mail.

The worried mother said the officers’ conduct was ‘completely out of order’ and said her son had been shaken by the experience. A clip of the incident recorded on a mobile phone shows an officer telling the boys they were ‘lying’ and that they weren’t ‘born yesterday’ when they insisted they were taking the scooter to be repaired rather than riding it. Zain was then detained as officers pulled his arms behind his back so fiercely he allegedly heard a ‘pop’.

Ms Evans said that while she had been given details of how to recover the e-scooters, the compound where they were supposed to be being kept claimed to have no knowledge of them. Zain was taking his e-scooter to his friend’s house for repair when the pair noticed the disused chapel (Picture: Emily Evans/Facebook) She had accompanied Zain to hospital in Port Talbot, where his arm was placed in a sling. The mother said that the boys could not have been riding Zain’s scooter as it was broken, she added.

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: ‘Officers observed a suspected incident of criminal damage to a disused church on Swansea Road, Pontardawe at around 2:15pm on Wednesday October 28. ‘While attending this incident, officers conducted searches of individuals believed to have committed offences and seized an e-scooter which was believed to have been used illegally. ‘We are aware of footage of this incident which has been circulated on social media and understand concern from the community in regards to use of force. ‘The mother of the young person has been contacted by officers and the incident has been referred for review by our Professional Standards Department.’

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What we found (1)

Metro reports the handcuffing of a 12-year-old boy by South Wales Police in Pontardawe, giving his mother's account, the footage and the force's statement, including its referral to Professional Standards. Its opening sentence states in Metro's own voice that the boy was detained simply for walking his e-scooter, when the police say officers were responding to suspected criminal damage, a reason the reader only meets near the end. The rest of the report attributes its claims fairly.

  1. States one side's claim as fact

    Minor

    “by police for walking his e-scooter around an abandoned chapel in Wales”

    Why this matters
    Metro gives the reason for the detention, "for walking his e-scooter around an abandoned chapel", in its own voice. This is the family's account.
    The impression it gives
    A reader believes the only reason police stopped the boy was that he was walking a scooter near a chapel.
    The context
    South Wales Police says officers were attending a suspected incident of criminal damage at the disused church and searched people believed to have committed offences. The boys' claim that they were only walking the scooter is the mother's account and is disputed by the officer in the footage. Metro carries the police account, but not until S13, after the lede has settled the reason as fact.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Officers observed a suspected incident of criminal damage to a disused church”
    • Elsewhere in the article“The mother said that the boys could not have been riding”

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “the incident has been referred for review by our Professional Standards Department”

    Metro reports the force's own statement in full, including that the use of force has been referred for review, so the reader has the police side and the accountability step.

  • “he allegedly heard a ‘pop’”

    Metro marks the claim about the boy's injury as alleged rather than stating it as fact.

  • “A clip of the incident recorded on a mobile phone shows an officer telling the boys they were ‘lying’”

    Metro reports what the footage shows, giving the officer's own words rather than characterising them.

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