GMP Caught One Handed

My client Leon is a black man who lives and works in Manchester; he is approximately 5ft 10in tall and of stocky build. Although this generally goes without saying, I will highlight here the fact, the relevance of which will soon become clear, that Leon, like most of us, is in possession of hands at the end of both of his arms…

One morning in May 2022, Leon, who is a Civil Servant, was working from home when several officers of Greater Manchester Police knocked on his front door.

On opening his front door, my client was asked for his name which he confirmed in full. The Officers then stepped into Leon’s flat, grabbed his left arm and handcuffed him, whilst simultaneously advising him that he was under arrest for robbery. Leon was in a state of shock; he had committed no criminal offence and immediately remonstrated, to no avail. The officers told Leon that everything would be sorted at the Police Station.

Leon was allowed to collect a few possessions (his phone and wallet) and was then escorted to a marked police van parked outside.

Leon had lived in the flat for approximately 10 months and was mortified at the thought of what his neighbours would think if they saw him being paraded like a handcuffed criminal.

After a 10 – 15 minutes delay, Leon was transported to Pendleton Police Station. Upon arrival, there was a further delay because the Police Station was said to be at capacity.

Leon again questioned why he had been arrested and furthermore why the Officers had deemed it necessary to handcuff him, given the fact that, despite his shock, he had been entirely calm and compliant with their instructions. One of the officers replied that Leon was “a big lad” and the officer did not want to “get decked”.

The Officer, a white man, then added, “I thought it would be like the Green Mile”, referring to the Hollywood movie featuring a large, strong black man who is a ‘death row’ prisoner. When Leon realised what the officer was saying he was deeply offended, considering the officer’s ‘joke’ to be not merely inappropriate but, frankly, evidence of shameless racial stereotyping.

After further delay, my client could hear the Officer talking on the radio. Unbeknownst to Leon, it seemed the penny had just dropped for the Police. The Officer now asked Leon to put his hands up. Leon questioned why, but the Officer simply insisted, “Just show me your hands.” Leon complied. The Officer now shook his head and advised that they had received “further intelligence” and as a result he was satisfied that Leon was not the wanted person after all and that he could now be immediately released.

The Officer removed Leon’s handcuffs and offered to drive him home. It was during that journey back to Leon’s flat that the Officer opened up about what he had apparently just discovered; that the suspect they were after had only one hand. Leon was flabbergasted by this information. The Officer’s final comment, on dropping Leon back off home, was that this was a “CID fuck up”.

Although the whole incident had lasted less than an hour, for Leon the mental trauma of this event was much more long lasting, leading him to consult his GP about anxiety. Leon was left feeling apprehensive whenever he heard a van outside his house concerned that it might be the Police to arrest him another fool’s errand. He also felt anxious when seeing Police Officers when out and about.

In the aftermath of this incident Leon contacted me for expert advice and assistance and I was very happy to act for him. It was clear that he was an innocent man who had suffered a terrible experience as a result of a hotch potch of incompetence, unprofessionalism and racial stereotyping on the part of Greater Manchester Police.

Greater Manchester Police’s initial response to the claim was to deny that Leon had been wrongly arrested – stating that they initially had reason to believe he was the “real suspect”, although it was subsequently established that he wasn’t – and it was asserted that Leon had been treated appropriately throughout and that the Officers had had “a good rapport” with Leon.

I required Greater Manchester Police to provide me with the evidence which they were now asserting had given their Officers an initial reasonable suspicion to arrest Leon and from this I noted that the Police were searching for a black man, with no left hand, who had robbed a Discount Booze shop. Although the offender’s name was reported to the Police as ‘Leon’ no surname was given, there was nothing else to link him to my client other than the fact that they were both black men and, of course, there was one rather important descriptor of the offender which the Police omitted to acknowledge when arguing that their Officers had formed a reasonable suspicion my client was the real suspect i.e. the fact that Leon has two hands.

It seemed to me from my review of the evidential material, that Leon had been identified simply because he was a black man with the same first name as the suspect (not an uncommon name) and lived in the local neighbourhood. My client has no criminal record and his details were obtained by the Police through a “voter check”.

It also seems, crucially, that the four Officers who were despatched to Leon’s house that day were not told in advance of the key distinguishing characteristic of the man they were looking for i.e. the absence of a left hand.

I brought Court proceedings on behalf of Leon and obtained and disclosed to Greater Manchester Police a medical report detailing the extent of the psychological impact this incident had had upon Leon, notwithstanding its short duration. I am pleased to say that after further negotiation GMP then backed down and agreed to settle Leon’s claim for damages for wrongful arrest in the sum of £5,000.

Casual racist attitudes were, in this incident, married to ‘Keystone Cops’ levels of incompetence; what we witness here as the arrest of a black man on the apparent basis of his black name only, and notwithstanding the fact that GMP knew they were looking for an extremely distinctive individual with only one hand. It is appalling that none of the four Police Officers who were despatched to pull Leon out of his home and take him into custody had apparently been given that most basic piece of information about the suspect.

Leon and I hope that by our highlighting of this catalogue of errors, Greater Manchester Police will learn to do better and next time not intrude into and abuse the life of a innocent man.