Metropolitan Police to pay substantial damages to man assaulted and abused by them

Mr Younes Bentahar has achieved significant success in his civil action against the Metropolitan Police concerning events on 9 and 10 July 2019 in which he suffered ill-treatment and abuse of power.

On 9 July 2019 officers were filmed striking Mr Bentahar and pinning him down while he appeared to have a seizure during a traffic stop. Video filmed by onlookers shows one officer appearing to knee him and another hitting him three times with a pair of handcuffs on his torso and upper leg.

In the video, Mr Bentahar begins having spasms as officers continued to restrain him, while his wife screamed: “You’re killing him.” When police eventually released their grip, Mr Bentahar lay unconscious on the pavement.

The case has attracted national attention, which may be found here and here.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has agreed to pay substantial damages to Mr Bentahar in settlement of his civil claim for assault, false imprisonment, breaches of the Human Rights Act and discrimination.

Imran Khan and Partners human rights and civil liberties specialists, Imran Khan QC and Daniel Cooper, assisted Mr Bentahar in achieving accountability and redress.

Disappointingly, an earlier Independent Office for Police Conduct (‘IOPC’) investigation did not recommend misconduct proceedings for any of the officers concerned.