It was in June 2022 that the police patrol was ordered to an address in Halmstad due to a relationship dispute. A woman had bitten a man in the chest, but the man did not want to report her for any crime and the incident was not reported.
This led to the police being charged with misconduct. According to the prosecutor, they disregarded their duty to report the assault. The police, in turn, assessed the incident as harassment – a crime they were not required to report.
The district court held that the police had certainly disregarded their duty, but that the act was minor and therefore not punishable.
The Court of Appeal, however, did not consider that the act was to be considered minor "because it involved a deliberate disregard of central police duties that are of particular importance in cases of suspicion of violence in a close relationship" and convicted the police officers.
Now the Supreme Court has taken a guiding step in the case. It states that the police have certainly committed misconduct through negligence, but that "the act, taking into account the circumstances, is minor and therefore not punishable."
The police officers are acquitted.
