Met unlawfully arrested teen for attempted murder
A man has expressed feeling "vindicated" after a court ruled that the Metropolitan Police unlawfully arrested him for the attempted murder of his mother, citing racial discrimination.
When he was 16 years old, Daryl McLune was handcuffed on 25 July 2021 and detained for 23 hours following an incident in which his mother attempted to take her own life.
On Thursday, a Central London County Court jury found that the Metropolitan Police's treatment of McLune also violated his human rights, according to statements from McLune's legal representatives.
The Metropolitan Police acknowledged "how distressing it was for the boy to have been arrested in these tragic circumstances" and affirmed its commitment to addressing all forms of discrimination.
'Profound impact'
Now 21 years old, McLune said:
"I have waited a long time for this vindication and whilst I will never forget these events, having the jury confirm I should never have been arrested, will I hope help me to try to move on and recover from this incident."
Despite officers observing McLune arrive at the scene on a bicycle after them, they proceeded to arrest him.
Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, representing McLune, stated that "far from treating him as a child in crisis, [the Met Police] handcuffed him in front of his neighbours."
He remained in handcuffs at Wandsworth police station for five hours until police collected forensic samples from his hands; these samples were never processed or submitted, the firm added.
The arrest had a "profound impact" on McLune, who subsequently dropped out of school despite previously being a "diligent student," according to the law firm.
'Shock and grief'
Megan Phillips, partner at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, commented that the civil case revealed the "true face of two-tier policing in this country" and that McLune "should have been offered support as he suffered the shock and grief of seeing his mother fighting for her life with catastrophic injuries."
"Instead, he was wrongly treated as a suspect because of his race," Phillips said.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police stated: "We know cases like this damage the trust communities have in us and we will be considering the outcome carefully."
The civil court jury found the Metropolitan Police acted unlawfully and held them liable for assault and battery, false imprisonment, race discrimination (breach of the Equality Act 2010), and breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 (contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects all individuals from 'inhuman and degrading treatment or torture').
Judge Holmes is expected to determine the damages to be awarded to McLune in the near future.
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