Police payout for men beaten at Gaza protest

By Tom Peck

Tuesday, 13 July 2010


Two protesters beaten by unidentified police officers during a protest in London against Israeli actions in Gaza have been awarded £25,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police.

The demonstrations were held near the Israeli embassy in January last year. It is the first payout by the Met over the policing of the protests.

In a letter to twin brothers Ashley and Russell Inglis the police apologised: "Whilst it has not been possible to identify who struck you and caused your injuries, the investigation into the events established there was no reason to suspect that you were acting in a violent way, and therefore you should not have been struck with a baton."

No officer has been punished amid claims that many had covered up their identity numbers.

The two brothers, who are both Oxford University graduates, have been highly critical of the investigation. They claim officers from the Met's department of professional standards (DPS) failed to gather all the CCTV footage available that night, preventing them from identifying the policemen involved.

Ashley Inglis described how an officer three feet away made eye contact with him and then smashed him over the head with a baton.

Russell then remonstrated with another officer and was also struck with a baton on the side of his face. They say their efforts to note down police identity numbers were hampered by more police attacks.

Police payout for men beaten at Gaza protest - Home News, UK - The Independent

--


Another case of the cops assulating the citizens with total impunity. This time, to add a soupcon of Kafka to the proceedings, the police said they could not identify the officers who delivered the blows. They had footage from immediately before, and immediately after, the incident, but claimed that they could not review the incident itself because that footage was being used "in another investigation".