The Actions Against the Police team are delighted to confirm settlement of a claim for false imprisonment and assault versus the City of London Police on behalf of our client HH.

Our client was working as room service waiter at a hotel in the City of London. A report of a sexual assault was made and description given of a suspect. City of London officers attended and spoke to the manager, who identified our client as someone who fitted the description. Our client was called, attended at the hotel lobby and was arrested, while the officers sought to establish what had happened. Upon providing the hotel with such details as they had, the manager then said that he knew of the incident being referred to and it was not a sexual assault or a crime at all and in any event he knew the person who was being described and it was not our client, and that he had that person’s details and had taken a statement from him.

The officers elected to keep our client under arrest while they watched CCTV footage of someone else not committing a crime. He was eventually released after an hour in handcuffs.

Client is to receive compensation of £2500 + payment of his legal costs.

Duncan Burtwell‘s notes

This is a good example of a claim where on the face of it the arrest sounded lawful. An allegation of a serious nature had been made and our client was said by his manager to fit the description. However, consideration of the video footage showed that at the time of the arrest, or at the least immediately afterwards, the officers ought to have known that there were no reasonable grounds to arrest our client.

Photo by Bruno Martins