My friend got caught selling pirated music cassette tapes at the carbootand was beaten by the cops is it legit?

He has aspergers syndrome and he was caught selling music he had taped off the radio in 1986 , he was taken to a cell and tazered repeatedly till he admitted he had taped Wham and level 42 from the chart count down in 1986 . Was this fair and legit by the cops ??