On day 4 of the 5 day trial of a claim brought by Liam and Dijon Joseph for false imprisonment, assault and race discrimination – the Commissioner dramatically conceded terms of settlement, agreeing to compensate the brothers, apologising in open court and re-stating his commitment to addressing the problem of how stop and search affects black Londoners.
The Commissioner’s case was that the brothers had been targeted for a search on the basis of nothing more than that Deptford and its surrounding areas were said to have high rates of drugs related crime, and because an officer saw the men touch hands in the street – the fist bump. In fact only 4% of crimes in the area were drugs related, and it was the brothers case that in fact it was their race that arouse suspicion.
Carolynn Gallwey of Bhatt Murphy acts for Liam and Dijon Joseph. Read the full press release here and see further coverage in the Guardian here.
