In 2024, my colleague John Hagan wrote a series of guest posts on this blog highlighting the problematic Police mentality which leads to serial acts of abuse of power towards non-violent protestors, activists and campaigners across a wide spectrum of social and political issues.
All too often, rather than acting as even-handed referees of the law, Police Officers fall into an “us verses them” mindset as regards protestors, and John compared this to a “Blue team” versus “Red team” approach, in which Police prejudice against and hostility to protestors spill over into civil rights abuses. A “perfect” example of this is the current case of our client Gemma Barnes, an animal rights and civil rights activist, who during a lawful and non- violent protest at a Police Station in Norwich was aggressively assaulted by a senior officer, wrongfully arrested and then maliciously prosecuted – resulting in a not- guilty verdict, of course.
Gemma’s story is powerfully told in a recent video post by Police accountability campaigner Rob Warner, who does such excellent work in this field on his “Crimebodge” You Tube Channel. One of the most striking things about this case is the fact that, as Rob highlights, the Police Officers who ‘dealt’ with Gemma ended up “bugging” themselves when they confiscated her body camera device – and then forgot to turn it off. Rob’s video, collated from that footage, lets you see and hear what happened next – in all its sleazy glory.
John has summed up his own view of the case in these terms –
“This footage shows us what goes on inside many Police Officer’s heads and behind the closed doors of the Police Station, and it is not a pretty sight. Officers can be heard describing my client as a fucking waste of space, discussing other officers attempting to generate an unsubstantiated charge against her and describing a transgender person as a “thing.” They are gleeful about the violence they have used against Gemma, a peaceful protestor, and frankly the whole atmosphere is akin to a school in which the teachers are absent and the bullies have taken over. What is perhaps equally shocking to what is revealed on the “candid camera” with which the Police recorded their sordid comments, is their behaviour in the full light of day. Sergeant Allum publicly and brutally assaulted my client with the kind of cocky impunity which is born of a Policing culture which fails to police itself. The so-called Independent Office of Police Conduct has, as usual, shown itself to be anything but independent in its assessment of my client’s case, and she will now be using the full force of the civil law to hold both Norfolk Constabulary and the IOPC to account for their egregious actions.”
If Police Professional Standards Departments (PSD) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) decline the opportunity to properly ‘police the Police’, as they have here, then it is down to courageous private citizens such as Gemma to take legal action against the offending Police Forces, as Gemma will now be doing with the help of specialist actions against the Police solicitors in the form of myself and John.
Gemma does not need to stand alone. Please see below links to a petition and fundraiser account which she has created in relation to this case, and consider giving her your financial as well as moral support –
I also suggest that you not only consider subscribing to Rob Warner’s Crimebodge channel, Crimebodge – YouTube but buying his book “Copper Stopper” which is an excellent survey of Police wrongs, and your rights, and for which I was proud to write the foreword.
Rob’s book can be purchased here – https://starchamber.co.uk/
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Contact the Expert Police Misconduct Solicitor
Iain Gould is a solicitor specialising in complaints, claims and civil actions against the Police. With over 30 years of experience and a national reputation, he has successfully sued all 43 police forces in England and Wales challenging abuse of power and securing rightful compensation.
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