Exclusive | Jury acquits Black man of assaulting police in just eight minutes after officers' claims crumble
The defence said officers treated NK as the aggressor after he had been racially profiled and attacked by security guards, with his trauma mistaken for criminal behaviour
A Black man accused of assaulting two police officers has been unanimously acquitted after jurors took just eight minutes to reject the allegations against him.
NK, whose full name has not been disclosed, stood trial at the Old Bailey on two counts of assaulting an emergency worker following an incident in Hackney on 18 November 2022 involving officers from the Metropolitan Police.
Prosecutors alleged that NK deliberately punched one officer and pushed another while being detained.
But his barrister, Ife Thompson, used slow-motion body-worn video footage to show jurors that the officers’ claims were not supported by what the cameras had captured.
“This case highlights ongoing, systemic concerns regarding the excessive use of force by police against Black men,” Thompson said.
“It also shows how important it is to understand how the trauma of experiencing anti-Black racism impacts individuals on a daily and recurring basis.
“The defence firmly maintains that this matter should never have been prosecuted.”
Black people are three times more likely than white people to have force used against them by the police, according to recent Home Office data.
The five-day trial heard that, shortly before police arrived, security guards had called NK a “gangster”, pushed him, punched him in the back of the head and pinned him to the ground.
Part of the incident was captured on video, while the bouncers admitted the remaining actions, according to the defence.
NK was said to have been dazed by the blow to his head and believed he was still being attacked by the security guards when officers arrived.
The defence argued that, rather than investigating whether NK had been the victim of an assault, officers assumed he was the aggressor and used excessive force while detaining him.
Members of the public reportedly recorded the detention, with some openly criticising the officers’ use of force.
An expert psychologist told the court that the confrontation with the security guards had triggered NK’s pre-existing post-traumatic stress disorder connected to experiences of racial discrimination.
The expert concluded that the resulting trauma symptoms would have affected NK’s subsequent interaction with the police.
During the trial, Thompson successfully opposed a hearsay application concerning an officer who had withdrawn her statement.
She also raised an abuse-of-process argument and argued that there was no case to answer.
Yesterday (20 July), the jury returned the unanimous not guilty verdicts on both counts in record time.
Following the verdict, the trial judge commended Thompson in court for doing a “phenomenal job” throughout the case.
Thompson, of Nexus Chambers, was instructed by Rebecca Field of Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors.
Black Current News has approached the Met Police for comment.
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