A jury at Central London County Court has found that Metropolitan Police officers unlawfully arrested, assaulted and racially discriminated against Bhatt Murphy client Daryl McLune when they arrested and detained him in 2021 after his mother had attempted suicide at their home in London. The court also found that the Metropolitan Police conduct towards Mr McLune amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment in breach of his human rights.
The case centered on events on 25 July 2021 when Daryl, a black teenager aged 16 at the time, returned home following a call from his father to find his mother fighting for her life on the ground outside their home, having jumped from the roof of their block of flats.
Despite officers seeing Daryl arrive at the scene on a bicycle after them, they arrested him for the attempted murder of his own mother. Far from treating him as a child in crisis, they handcuffed him in front of his neighbours and took him to Wandsworth Police Station, where he was held overnight for twenty-three hours in total, his first ever experience of being detained by the police. He remained in handcuffs for five hours until police took forensic samples from his hands, samples which were never processed or submitted. In detention, Metropolitan Police officers refused to tell Daryl whether his mother was alive or dead or to give him any information about her condition.
The verdict comes during a civil trial at which the court heard of the profound impact of the arrest on Daryl, who had been a diligent student but ended up dropping out of school following his arrest. The judge, His Honour Judge Holmes, will now determine what damages should be paid to Daryl and is expected to make a decision in the near future.
Daryl McLune said: “I am pleased and grateful to the jury for considering my case so carefully and for reaching the decision that they have. 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.
Megan Phillips, Partner at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, representing Mr McLune said: “This case shows the true face of two-tier policing in this country, where a young black teenager can be unlawfully arrested for the attempted murder of his own mother, in circumstances where the court has found that the officers did not genuinely suspect him of committing any offence and where their behaviour was infected by race discrimination. Daryl was a child in crisis who 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.”
Daryl McLune is represented by Megan Phillips, Michael Oswald and Mavi Salvatori of Bhatt Murphy, instructing Frederick Powell of Doughty Street Chambers.
For further comment or information please contact Megan Phillips by email: media@bhattmurphy.co.uk
