Met Police pays damages to black brothers handcuffed and searched outside east London home

The Met Police has paid out to two black brothers who were stopped and searched outside their home in east London.

Nicholas Peart, 24, and Leon Peart, now 20, were handcuffed by three officers outside their family home in Chingford in April 2020, on Leon’s 18th birthday.

They have told how the incident left them “embarrassed” and have accused the Met officers involved of being “racist”.

The officers initially stopped them under Covid regulations, before deciding to search them both under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

They reportedly claimed to have seen “drug paraphernalia” in Nicholas’ car, but nothing was found in the search.

The brothers are devout Christians who live in a quiet, leafy part of Chingford, and are said to have never smoked a cigarette in their lives, let alone taken drugs.

Nicholas spoke of the humiliation he felt at being handcuffed outside his home, and says the incident has changed the way he views the police.

”It was embarrassing to put me in handcuffs in front of my neighbours,” he said.

“Beforehand I had a good view of the police. I always said hi to the local officer. This has diminished my view of the police.”

Leon said: “I think it was racist and because of my skin colour. There’s no change in the Met. Words are cheap. Once we see actions we can start to believe their stories.”

The brothers complained to police about the events, but their complaint was rejected.

The Pearts then brought a case against the Commissioner for assault and false imprisonment, on the basis that the reasons given for the search were false and stereotyped them as black men.

Young black men are said to be as many as nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than their white counterparts.

In the early months of Covid-19 lockdowns, the equivalent of one in eight of all black men in London aged between 15 and 24 were stopped by the Met. In 80 per cent of cases, nothing was found.

Solicitor Carolynn Gallwey, who represented the Peart brothers, said: “Stop and search is an ineffective and wasteful policing tactic that continues to be applied in a profoundly discriminatory manner.

“Until the Commissioner acknowledges this and commits to change the Met has no hope of winning back the trust of black Londoners,” she added.

The Met had planned to defend itself against the claim, but decided to instead settle the case when one of the three officers involved, PC Paul Hefford, was dismissed without notice in June this year, after he was found to have sent highly offensive and discriminatory messages in a WhatsApp group.

The force denies liability and has declined to apologise over the matter.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid, responsible for Professionalism, said: “We do not underestimate the impact stop and search can have but we believe it saves lives in London.

“We are redoubling our efforts to listen, engage and explain why we do what we do to build trust in the tactic.

“This legal claim was received in September 2021 and our intention was to defend it based on information from the officers involved.

“One of the three officers involved was dismissed over an unrelated matter in June 2022. His statement could no longer be relied upon.

“Following this, we took the decision to settle the claim without admission of liability.

“Based on the accounts of the two other officers, we did not accept the men were stopped and searched because of the colour of their skin.

“The initial stop was as a result of officers noticing someone sat in a parked car in April 2020 when strict lockdown regulations were in force.

“This included people being told to stay at home and not to make unnecessary journeys.”

The other two police constables involved in the search are still serving. One is based within Met Detention and the other is attached to the Violent Crime Taskforce.