Advertisement

Met police apologise to brothers stopped and searched after fist bump

<span>Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian</span>
Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

The Metropolitan police have apologised and paid tens of thousands of pounds in damages and costs to two young black men who were stopped and searched after officers saw them bump fists in the street and wrongly suspected them of dealing drugs.

As part of a legal settlement, the Met declared that brothers Dijon and Liam Joseph, 33 and 31, were blameless for their ordeal four years ago, which involved Dijon being handcuffed and left them traumatised and humiliated.

They sued for false imprisonment, assault and racial bias, and they say the stop was one of more than 25 they have experienced since childhood.

The Met chose to fight the case, which started on Monday. On Wednesday, lawyers for the Met police asked to change their defence after evidence began to be heard, leading to a rebuke from the judge.

Because the case was being heard before a jury, Judge Freeland KC’s criticism of the Met can only now be reported.

The Met, battling to rebuild public confidence, agreed to pay damages and the legal costs of the two men, and to issue a wide-ranging apology. In an agreed statement, it said the two men “did nothing wrong to cause the police to stop them” and were of “good character”.

The brothers were stopped and searched on 27 February 2018 outside a Caribbean takeaway on Deptford high street in south London. At the time, Dijon worked in education as a mentor and Liam as a musician. Six officers were involved in the incident, no drugs were found and no further action was taken against the pair.

Dijon was handcuffed during the stop. Police claimed he was acting aggressively and that part of their grounds for the search was that the Deptford area was known for drug dealing. It was also claimed by the Met that as well as the two men touching hands, it looked like an object had been passed.

In the case, heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, the Met commissioner was the defendant, with the Joseph brothers the claimants.

The apology that settled the claim reads: “It being agreed, a letter of apology will be sent on the defendant’s behalf to each claimant acknowledging they are men of good character who did nothing wrong to cause the police to stop them on 27th February 2018, that they found the experience traumatic and humiliating, that their prior experiences of stop and search reflect those of other young black men in London over many years, and that the defendant is publicly committed to rebuilding the trust and confidence of the black communities in policing.”

Their case was one of five cited by the police watchdog in 2020 as it criticised the Met’s use of stop and search and identified a series of areas needing improvement. But the Independent Office for Police Conduct decided not to take action against any of the officers involved, who declined to answer its oral questions and instead made submissions in writing.

Liam Joseph said: “We have waited almost five years for this apology from the police and for my brother and I to finally feel fully vindicated. We brought this case not just for us but for our community, to show that you can and should stand up against the police treating young black men like criminals for no reason.”

Carolynn Gallwey, the solicitor for the brothers, said: “This case joins a growing list of successful claims against the commissioner by young black men who have been unfairly targeted by police over many years using stop and search powers. Well-meaning words are not enough: the commissioner now needs to openly acknowledge that the stop and search tactic needs total review and reform.”

A spokesperson for the Met said: “We understand why some communities may feel over-policed and we are listening. We are redoubling our efforts to listen, engage and explain why we do what we do to build trust in the tactic.”

The Met said that from October 2021 to September 2022, “more than 55,404 acts of criminality were detected as a result of stop and search”.

It added: “A civil claim was brought against the Met in relation to a stop and search in February 2018 in Lewisham alleging racial discrimination, false imprisonment, trespass to person and assault. The claim has been settled. At the request of the claimants we are not providing any further details.”

Gallwey said the confidentiality agreement covered only the financial aspects of the settlement.

Stop and search has been a continued flashpoint in relations between the police and minority-ethnic communities. The Met is three times more likely to stop someone who is black than someone who is white, with eight out of 10 stops resulting in nothing criminal being found. The force uses the tactic more per head of population than any other covering a large urban area.

Black people’s confidence in the Met is still 15% lower than for white people’s, and black people are 20 percentage points less likely to feel the police use stop and search fairly.

The Met remains in special measures after a damning report from the official policing inspectorate.