This is the moment a hero former police officer who was sacked over an ‘aggressive’ and ‘confrontational’ arrest makes a citizen’s arrest of a shoplifter.
Lorne Castle’s police officer instincts kicked in when he encountered a youth fleeing a Nike store with stolen goods on Thursday evening.
The 46-year-old – who was controversially dismissed last month for his robust apprehension of a knife-carrying teenager after failing to treat him with ‘courtesy and respect’ – didn’t think twice about putting himself in harm’s way again to tackle another youth.
He physically restrained the suspect and held him on the floor for 15 minutes until former colleagues at Dorset Police arrived to arrest the male.
A former colleague later pointedly praised Mr Castle’s ‘extremely pleasant and courteous’ treatment of the youth he had stopped.
The incident took place last night (Thurs) at the Castlepoint shopping centre in Bournemouth, Dorset.
It happened on the same day it was confirmed that Mr Castle would be appealing the decision taken by Dorset Police to sack him for gross misconduct.
Mr Castle was found to have used disproportionate force during the arrest of the 15-year-old boy in Bournemouth in January 2024.
A Stanley-like knife fell from the boy’s waistband during his arrest, but a misconduct panel said PC Castle – who put his hand in the teen’s face and on his neck and jabbed his finger at him – failed to act with self-control or show the boy ‘courtesy and respect’.
The dismissal came months after Mr Castle won a national lifesaving award for saving an elderly lady from a flooded river.
The father-of-three told LBC Radio he had received thousands of messages of support. A GoFundMe campaign to support him and his family has raised over £120,000.
Norman Brennan, a retired police officer who now campaigns on behalf of rank and file officers was with Mr Castle before last night’s incident. He said: ‘The shoplifter ran out of the Nike store with a lot of gear and Lorne ‘nicked’ him. It was a citizen’s arrest because that is what he is now.
‘The suspect was detained until the police turned up and arrested him.
‘That’s the sort of police officer the public want.’
Retired police inspector Chris Amey, who worked with Mr Castle, added: ‘This shoplifter literally ran (out) into Lorne as he was entering the Nike store at Castlepoint in Bournemouth.
‘The offender was detained by Lorne on the floor for 15 minutes awaiting the arrival of police.
‘We’re delighted to say that Lorne was extremely pleasant and courteous to the man concerned and actually very apologetic for detaining him.
‘Juliano the store manager was extremely happy that Lorne was able to assist in the absence of any security or police officers .
‘The goods were all returned to the store and the male was arrested and numerous items found in his possession were seized.’
Members of the public took to social media to praise Mr Castle for his citizen’s arrest.
Phil Lee: ‘You couldn’t make this up.
‘Well done Lorne, you have the backing of tens of thousands who can clearly see where your dedication and devotion lie, unlike your previous employers.’
Peter Burnell said: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Lorne was to be awarded a good citizen medal for this and the Chief Constable did the presentation!’
Speaking about the impact that the dismissal has had on him, Mr Castle said: ‘Dorset Police could have absolutely destroyed me and broken me.
‘It was a very dark place and a sad moment in time, but my story seems to have touched the nation.
‘I was sacked, left with no job, a family to look after and no job prospects.
‘I want my name cleared. I feel that I have been treated really unfairly. I have been an exemplary officer for over 10 years.’
Dorset Police said: ‘We received a report at 7.31pm on Thursday 19 June 2025 of a shoplifter at a commercial unit at Castlepoint Shopping Centre in Bournemouth.
‘Officers attended and arrested a man aged in his 30s in connection with the incident. Enquiries remain ongoing.’
On Thursday, the force confirmed Mr Castle was appealing against the disciplinary ruling which led to his dismissal.
Mr Castle was sacked after an independent tribunal found that he had committed gross misconduct in relation to the arrest of the youth in Bournemouth town centre on January 27 last year.
The ex-police constable had admitted misconduct in relation to breaching the standards of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy, conduct and use of force but denied gross misconduct.
Following the disciplinary hearing in May, Dorset Police said that Mr Castle had acted ‘inappropriately’ as he detained the teenager after receiving reports of two assaults in the seaside town.
The force said that the then constable had used ‘unnecessary and inappropriate words towards the boy and place both his hands on his throat.’
A statement added: ‘The panel found that Pc Castle failed to act with self-control, did not treat the boy with courtesy or respect.
‘His shouting, swearing, finger pointing, taking hold of the boy’s face and throat and suggested use of leg restraints was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate.’
A video clip of the incident, released by the force, shows the officer tackling the 15-year-old boy to the ground before taking hold of the teenager’s face and throat while repeatedly swearing and shouting at him.
As the boy protests, crying ‘what have I done?, the officer shouts ‘stop screaming like a little b****, do you understand that? Shut up’, before telling him: ‘Stop resisting or I’m going to smash you. Do you understand?’ The officer then told the youth he was being arrested on suspicion of assault.
A former Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner later branded the sacking an ‘overreaction’ and accused his former force of going ‘woke’.
Martyn Underhill said he found it ‘scary’ how Dorset Police behaved, saying that while the officer deserved to be interviewed and disciplined, they were wrong to dismiss him without notice for gross misconduct.
