Bhatt Murphy Solicitors

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A team of lawyers who work together to make a contribution to the protection of civil liberties https://bhattmurphy.co.uk

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On 13 December 2024, the IOPC announced that – following their 14 month long investigation into the Metropolitan and City of London Police arising from the case of Child X – they had concluded that “the service provided to Child X and his family by the police was acceptable”.

Child X, who is black and was 13 at the time, was playing outside his home with his younger sister in Hackney in broad daylight on 19 July 2023 with a brightly coloured plastic water pistol. A uniformed Metropolitan Police officer, reported what he saw as a potential firearms incident. Child X was then apprehended by armed police officers who knocked him off his bicycle by driving into him, pointed their weapons at him and then arrested him, placing him in handcuffs. Child X was de-arrested at the scene, once his mother arrived and challenged what was happening.

In dismissing concerns raised by Child X’s mother that the actions of the police officers involved were influenced by his race, the IOPC said they had relied upon there being “no evidence of overt comments…or evidence of a perception of discrimination”.