Damages against the police (4)
01 January 1991
Damages against the police
artdoc December=1991
Lancashire police have paid ¼35,000 compensation to 56-year old
Mohammed Riaz after they wrongly arrested and detained him in
1986. Mr Riaz, who is diabetic and has a heart condition, said
that despite suffering severe chest pains while in custody he was
refused medicine. In a statement the police accepted `that Mr
Riaz's prosecution was unjustified and that in opposing Mr Riaz's
bail applications, the Lancashire police officers concerned were
acting with an excess of zeal that cannot now be defended. The
plaintiff is a man of exemplary character and suffered
considerable distress, anxiety, humiliation and damage to his
reputation.'
The Metropolitan Police have paid ¼40,000 in damages to a black
man, Leslie Burnett, a landscape gardener, following a claim of
wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and assault. Burnett was
arrested outside his front door, where he was beaten by
truncheons and racially abused by police officers who fabricated
a case against him, alleging that he had been tampering with a
car. Burnett sued the Metropolitan Police who agreed to the
settlement without admitting liability. Burnett said: `I am
pleased, but what about the police officers who would have sent
me to jail? I would like to see them sacked or charged.'
Sixty-one year old road sweeper, Ernest Cusworth, received
¼60,000 damages at Sheffield High court after a jury found South
Yorkshire police guilty of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment
and assault. Mr Cusworth, who was leaving for work, was charged
by police in riot gear following picketing at Cortonwood Colliery
during the miners' strike in 1984. He has not been able to return
to work since then. In June South Yorkshire police agreed to pay
¼500,000 in damages and costs to former miners injured during
clashes with police outside Orgreave coking plant, (see
Statewatch 3). In October the Derbyshire police paid ¼50,000 in
an out-of-court settlement to an ex-miner arrested for
obstruction on the M1. He was later cleared and took out an
action for alleged assault, wrongful arrest, and false
imprisonment.
Independent, 15.3.91; Independent, 2.7.91; Guardian, 2.7.91;
Police Review, 5.7.91;Guardian, 10.7.91;23.10.91.